mm 


\ 


GJrL 


HAROLD  BINDLOS 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 


BY  THE  SA31E  AUTHOR 

The  Cattle  Baron's  Daughter 

Alton  of  Somasco 

Dust  of  Conflict 

Winston  of  the  Prairie 

For  Jacinta 

Delilah  of  the  Snows 

By  Right  of  Purchase 

lorimer  of  the  northwest 

Greater  Power 


i 

Thurston  of 
Orchard  Valley 

By  HAROLD   BINDLOSS 


Author  of  "  By  Right  of  Purchase,"  "  Lorimer  of  the 
Northwest,"  "Alton  ot  Somasco,"  etc. 


With  Frontispiece 
Bt  W.   HERBERT    DUNTON 


A.  L.  BURT  COMPANY 

Publishers  New  York 


(1110] 


X5fW 


Copyright,  1910,  Bt 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 


All  Hghts  reserved 


February,  1910 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB 

PAGE 

I. 

1 

II. 

A   Disillusion                        .     :. 

12 

III. 

Geoffrey's  First  Contract  . 

21 

IV. 

Geoffrey  Makes  Progress     . 

32 

V. 

The  Legends  of  Crosbie  Ghyll 

44 

VI. 

56 

VII. 

The  Breaking  of  the  Jam              .     . 

.       67 

VIII. 

77 

IX. 

88 

X. 

96 

XI. 

104 

XII. 

Geoffrey  Tests  His  Fate     . 

.     116 

XIII. 

127 

XIV. 

The  Work  of  an  Enemy 

.     139 

XV. 

A  Great  Undertaking     .... 

.     150 

XVI. 

Millicent  Turns  Traitress 

.     160 

XVII. 

The  Infatuation  of  English  Jim 

.     171 

XVIII. 

The  Bursting  of  the  Sluice     . 

.     182 

XIX. 

The  Abduction  of  Black  Christy 

.     194 

XX. 

Under  the  Stanley  Pines    . 

.     205 

XXI. 

215 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

XXII.  A  Eepeieve .224 

XXIII.  The  Ultimatum 236 

XXIV.  An  Unexpected  Ally 246 

XXV.  Millicent's  Revolt 255 

XXVI.  A  Reckless  Journey 265 

XXVII.  Mrs.  Savine  Speaks  Her  Mind      .     .     276 

XXVIII.  Leslie  Steps  Out ..     286 

XXIX.  A  Revelation       ...      ...      .296 


THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 


Thurston  of  Orchard  Valley 


CHAPTER    I 


"  thurston's  folly  " 


It  was  a  pity  that  Geoffrey  Thurston  was  following  in  his 
grandfather's  footsteps,  the  sturdy  dalefolk  said,  and  sev- 
eral of  them  shook  their  heads  solemnly  as  they  repeated 
the  observation  when  one  morning  the  young  man  came 
striding  down  the  steep  street  of  a  village  in  the  North 
Country.  The  cluster  of  gray  stone  houses  nestled  beneath 
the  scarred  face  of  a  crag,  and,  because  mining  opera- 
tions had  lately  been  suspended  and  work  was  scarce  just 
then,  pale-faced  men  in  moleskin  lounged  about  the  slate- 
slab  doorsteps.  Above  the  village,  and  beyond  the  sum- 
mit of  the  crag,  the  mouth  of  a  tunnel  formed  a  black  blot 
on  the  sunlit  slopes  of  sheep-cropped  grass  stretching  up 
to  the  heather,  which  gave  place  in  turn  to  rock  out-crop 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  fell.  The  loungers  glanced  at  the 
tunnel  regretfully,  for  that  mine  had  furnished  most  of 
them  with  their  daily  bread. 

"  It's  in  t'  blood,"  said  one,  nodding  toward  the  young 
man.  "Ay,  headstrong  folly's  bred  in  t'  bone  of  them. 
an'  it's  safer  to  counter  an  angry  bull  than  a  Thurston  of 
Crosbie  Ghyll.  It's  like  his  grandfather — roughed  out  of 
the  old  hard  whinstane  he  is." 

A  murmur  of  approval  followed,  for  the  listeners  knew 
there  was  a  measure  of  truth  in  this;  but  it  ceased  when 
the  pedestrian  passed  close  to  them  with  long,  vigorous 
strides.  Though  several  raised  their  hands  half-way  to 
their  caps  in  grudging  salute,  Geoffrey  Thurston,  who  ap- 
peared preoccupied,  looked  at  none  of  them.  Notwith- 
standing his  youth,  there  were  lines  on  his  forehead  and 
his  brows  were  wrinkled  over  his  eyes,  while  his  carriage 


2    THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

suggested  strength  of  limb  and  energy.  Tall  in  stature 
his  frame  looked  wiry  rather  than  heavily  built.  His  face 
was  resolute,  for  both  square  jaw  and  steady  brown  eyes 
suggested  tenacity  of  purpose.  The  hands  that  swung  at 
his  sides  had  been  roughened  by  labor  with  pick  and 
drill.  Yet  in  spite  of  the  old  clay-stained  shooting  suit 
and  shapeless  slouch  hat  with  the  grease  on  the  front  of 
it,  where  a  candle  had  been  set,  there  was  a  stamp  of 
command,  and  even  refinement,  about  him.  He  was  a 
Thurston  of  Crosbie,  one  of  a  family  the  members  of 
which  had  long  worked  their  own  diminishing  lands 
among  the  rugged  fells  that  stretch  between  the  West 
Eiding  and  the  Solway. 

The  Thurstons  had  been  a  reckless,  hard-living  race, 
with  a  stubborn,  combative  disposition.  Most  of  them  had 
found  scope  for  their  energies  in  wresting  a  few  more 
barren  acres  from  the  grasp  of  moss  and  moor;  but  sev- 
eral times  an  eccentric  genius  had  scattered  to  the  winds 
what  the  rest  had  won,  and  Geoffrey  seemed  bent  on  play- 
ing the  traditional  role  of  spendthrift.  There  were,  how- 
ever, excuses  for  him.  He  was  an  ambitious  man,  and  had 
studied  mechanical  science  under  a  famous  engineer. 
Perhaps,  because  the  surface  of  the  earth  yielded  a  sus- 
tenance so  grudgingly,  a  love  of  burrowing  was  born  in 
the  family.  Copper  was  dear  and  the  speculative  public 
well  disposed  towards  British  mines.  When  current  prices 
permitted  it,  a  little  copper  had  been  worked  from  time 
immemorial  in  the  depths  of  Crosbie  Fell,  so  Geoffrey, 
continuing  where  his  grandfather  had  ceased,  drove  the 
ancient  adit  deeper  into  the  hill,  mortgaging  field  by  field 
to  pay  for  tools  and  men,  until,  when  the  little  property 
had  well-nigh  gone,  he  came  upon  a  fault  or  break  in  the 
strata,  which  made  further  progress  almost  impossible. 

When  Thurston  reached  the  mouth  of  the  adit,  he 
turned  and  looked  down  upon  the  poor  climbing  meadows 
under  the  great  shoulder  of  the  Fell.  Beyond  these,  a  few 
weatherbeaten    buildings    forming    a    rude    quadrangle 


"THURSTON'S   FOLLY"  3 

pierced  by  one  tall  archway,  stood  beside  a  tarn  that 
winked  like  polished  steel.  He  sighed  as  his  glance  rested 
upon  them.  For  many  generations  they  had  sheltered  the 
Thurstons  of  Crosbie;  but,  unless  he  could  stoop  to  soil 
his  hands  in  a  fashion  revolting  to  his  pride,  a  strange 
master  would  own  them  before  many  months  had  gone. 
An  angry  glitter  came  into  his  eyes,  and  his  face  grew  set, 
as,  placing  a  lighted  candle  in  his  hat,  he  moved  forward 
into  the  black  adit. 

Twenty  minutes  had  passed  when  Thurston  stood  on 
the  brink  of  a  chasm  where  some  movement  of  the  earth's 
crust  had  rent  the  rocks  asunder.  Beside  him  was  a  min- 
ing engineer,  whose  fame  for  skill  was  greater  than  his 
reputation  for  integrity.  Both  men  had  donned  coarse 
overalls,  and  Melhuish,  the  mining  expert,  held  his  candle 
so  that  its  light  fell  upon  his  companion  as  well  as  upon 
the  dripping  surface  of  the  rock.  Moisture  fell  from  the 
wet  stone  into  the  gloomy  rift,  and  a  faint  monotonous 
splashing  rose  up  from  far  below.  Melhuish,  however,  was 
watching  Thurston  too  intently  to  notice  anything  else. 
He  was  a  middle-aged  man,  with  a  pale,  puffy  face  and 
avaricious  eyes.  He  was  well-known  to  speculative  finan- 
ciers, who  made  much  more  than  the  shareholders  of 
certain  new  mining  companies. 

"  It's  interesting  geologically — wholly  abnormal  con- 
sidering the  stratification,  though  very  unfortunate  for 
you,"  said  Melhuish.  "  I  give  you  my  word  of  honor  that 
when  I  advised  you  to  push  on  the  heading  I  never  ex- 
pected this.  However,  there  it  is,  and  unless  you're  will- 
ing to  consider  certain  suggestions  already  made,  I  can't 
see  much  use  in  wasting  any  more  money.  As  I  said,  my 
friends  would,  under  the  circumstances,  treat  you  fairly." 

Thurston's  face  was  impassive,  and  Melhuish,  who 
thought  that  his  companion  bore  himself  with  a  curious 
equanimity  for  a  ruined  man,  did  not  see  that  Thurston's 
hard  fingers  were  clenched  savagely  on  the  handle  of  a 
pick. 


4    THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"I  fancied  you  understood  my  opinions,  and  I  haven't 
changed  them/'  said  Geoffrey.  "  I  asked  you  to  meet  me 
here  to-day  to  consider  whether  the  ore  already  in  sight 
would  be  worth  reduction,  and  you  say,  '  Xo.'  You  can 
advise  your  friends,  when  you  see  them,  that  I'm  not  in- 
clined to  assist  them  in  a  deliberate  fraud  upon  the 
public." 

Melhuish  laughed.  "  You  are  exaggerating,  and  people 
seem  perfectly  willing  to  pay  for  their  experience,  whether 
they  acquire  it  over  copper,  lead  or  tin.  Besides,  there's 
an  average  commercial  probability  that  somebody  will  find 
good  ore  after  going  down  far  enough,  and  your  part 
would  be  easy.  You  take  a  moderate  price  as  vendor,  we 
advancing  enough  to  settle  the  mortgage.  Sign  the  pa- 
pers my  friends  will  send  you,  and  keep  your  mouth 
shut." 

"  And  their  expert  wouldn't  see  that  fault  ? "  asked 
Geoffrey.    Melhuish  smiled  pityingly  before  he  answered: 

"  The  gentlemen  I  speak  of  keep  an  expert  who  cer- 
tainly wouldn't  see  any  more  than  was  necessary.  The 
indications  that  deceived  me  are  good  enough  for  any- 
bod}r.  Human  judgment  is  always  liable  to  error,  and 
there  are  ways  of  framing  a  report  without  committing 
the  person  who  makes  it.  May  I  repeat  that  it's  a  fair 
business  risk,  and  whoever  takes  this  mine  should  strike 
the  lead  if  sufficient  capital  is  poured  in.  It  would  be 
desirable  for  you  to  act  judiciously.  My  financial  friends, 
I  understand,  have  been  in  communication  with  the  peo« 
pie  who  hold  your  mortgages." 

Geoffrey  Thurston's  temper,  always  fiery,  had  been  sorely 
tried.  Dropping  his  pick,  he  gripped  the  tempter  by  the 
shoulder  with  fingers  that  held  him  like  a  vice.  He 
pressed  Melhuish  backward  until  they  stood  within  a  foot 
of  the  verge  of  the  black  rift.  Melhuish's  face  was  gray 
□  the  candle-light  as  he  heard  the  dislodged  pebbles 
splash  sullenly  into  the  water,  fathoms  beneath.  He  had 
heard  stories  of  the  vagaries  of  the  Thurstons  of  Crosbie, 


"THURSTON'S   FOLLY"  5 

and  it  was  most  unpleasant  to  stand  on  the  brink  of 
eternity,  in  the  grasp  of  one  of  them. 

Suddenly  Geoffrey  dropped  his  hands.  "  You  need  bet- 
ter nerves  in  your  business,  Melhuish,"  he  said  quietly. 
"  One  would  hardly  have  fancied  you  would  be  so  startled 
at  a  harmless  joke  intended  to  test  them  for  you.  There 
have  been  several  spendthrifts  and  highly  successful 
drunkards  in  my  family,  but,  with  the  exception  of  my 
namesake,  who  was  hanged  like  a  Jacobite  gentleman  for 
taking,  sword  in  hand,  their  despatches  from  two  of 
Cumberland's  dragoons,  we  have  hitherto  drawn  the  line 
at  stealing." 

"  I'm  not  interested  in  genealogy,  and  I  don't  appre- 
ciate jests  of  the  sort  you  have  just  tried,"  Melhuish  an- 
swered somewhat  shakily.  "I'll  take  your  word  that  you 
meant  no  harm,  and  I  request  further  and  careful  con- 
sideration before  you  return  a  definite  answer  to  my 
friends'  suggestions." 

"  You  shall  have  it  in  a  few  days,"  Geoffrey  promised ; 
and  Melhuish,  who  determined  to  receive  the  answer  un- 
der the  open  sunlight,  and,  if  possible,  with  assistance 
near  at  hand,  turned  toward  the  mouth  of  the  adit.  Be- 
cause he  thought  it  wiser,  he  walked  behind  Geoffrey. 

The  afternoon  was  not  yet  past  when  Thurston  stood 
leaning  on  the  back  of  a  stone  seat  outside  a  quaint  old 
hall,  which  had  once  been  a  feudal  fortalice  and  was 
now  attached  to  an  unprofitable  farm.  Because  the  im- 
poverished gentleman,  who  held  a  long  lease  on  the 
ancient  building,  had  let  one  wing  to  certain  sportsmen, 
several  of  Geoffrey's  neighbors  had  gathered  on  the  in- 
dilferently-kept  lawn  to  enjoy  a  tennis  match.  Miss 
Millicent  Austin  sat  in  an  angle  of  the  stone  seat.  Her 
little  feet,  encased  in  white  shoes,  reposed  upon  a  cushion 
that  one  of  the  sportsmen  had  insisted  on  bringing  to  her. 
Her  hands  lay  idly  folded  in  her  lap.  The  delicate  hands 
were  characteristic,  for  Millicent  Austin  was  slight  and 
dainty.     With  pale  gold  hair  and  pink  and  white  com- 


6    THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

plexion,  she  was  a  perfect  type  of  Saxon  beauty,  though 
some  of  her  rivals  said  the  color  of  her  eyes  was  too  light 
a  blue.  They  also  added  that  the  blue  eyes  were  very 
quick  to  notice  where  their  owners  interests  lay. 

An  indefinite  engagement  had  long  existed  between  the 
girl  and  the  man  beside  her,  and  at  one  time  they  had 
cherished  a  degree  of  affection  for  each  other;  but  when 
the  merry,  high-spirited  girl  returned  from  London 
changed  into  a  calculating  woman,  Geoffrey  was  bound 
up,  mind  and  body,  in  his  mine,  and  Millicent  began  to 
wonder  whether,  with  her  advantages,  she  might  not  do 
better  than  to  marry  a  dalesman  burdened  by  heavy  debts. 
They  formed  a  curious  contrast,  the  man  brown-haired, 
brown-eyed,  hard-handed,  rugged  of  feature,  and  some- 
times rugged  of  speech ;  and  the  dainty  woman  who  ap- 
peared born  for  a  life  of  ease  and  luxury. 

"  Beauty  and  the  beast !  "  said  one  young  woman  to 
her  companion  as  she  laid  by  her  racquet.  "  I  suppose 
he  has  the  money  ?  " 

"  Unless  his  mine  proves  successful  I  don't  think  either 
will  have  much;  but  if  Miss  Austin  is  a  beauty  in  a  mild 
way,  he's  a  noble  beast,  one  very  likely  to  turn  the  tables 
upon  a  rash  hunter,"  was  the  answer.  "  And  yet  he's 
stalking  blindly  into  the  snare.     Alas,  poor  lion ! " 

"  You  seem  interested  in  him.  I'm  not  partial  to  wild 
beasts  myself,"  remarked  her  companion,  and  the  other 
smiled  as  she  answered : 

"  Hardly  that,  but  I  know  the  family  history,  and  they 
are  a  curious  race  witli  great  capabilities  for  good  or 
evil.  It  all  depends  upon  how  tbey  are  led,  because 
nobody  could  drive  a  Thurston.  It  is  rather,  I  must  con- 
fess, an  instinctive  prejudice  against  the  woman  beside 
him.  I  do  not  like,  and  would  not  trust,  Miss  Austin, 
though,  of  course,  except  to  you,  my  dear,  I  would  not 


av  so." 


The  young  speaker  glanced  a  moment  towards  the  pair, 
and  then  passed  on  with  a  slight  frown  upon  her  honest 


r »» 


"THURSTON'S   FOLLY 

face,  for  Thurston  bent  over  his  companion  with  some- 
thing that  suggested  deadly  earnestness  in  his  attitude, 
and  the  spectator  assumed  that  Millicent  Austin's  head 
was  turned  away  from  him,  because  she  possessed  a  fine 
profile  and  not  because  of  excessive  diffidence.  Nor  was 
the  observer  wrong,  for  Millicent  did  little  without  a  pur- 
pose, and  was  just  then  thinking  keenly  as  she  said: 

"  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  about  your  misfortune, 
Geoffrey,  but  there  is  a  way  of  escape  from  most  disasters 
if  one  will  look  for  it,  you  know,  and  if  you  came  to 
terms  with  them  I  understand  those  London  people  would, 
at  least,  recoup  you  for  your  expenditure." 

"  You  have  heard  of  that !  "  exclaimed  Geoffrey  sharply, 
displeased  that  his  fiancee,  who  had  been  away,  should 
betray  so  accurate  a  knowledge  of  all  that  concerned  his 
business  affairs. 

"  Of  course  I  did.  I  made  Tom  tell  me.  You  will 
agree  with  them,  will  you  not  ?  "  the  girl  replied. 

"  No,"  said  Geoffrey,  with  a  slight  huskiness.  "  I  wish 
I  could,  but  it  is  impossible,  and  I  am  not  pleased  that 
Tom  should  tell  you  what  I  was  waiting  to  confide  to 
you  myself.  Let  that  pass,  for  I  want  you  to  listen  to 
me.  The  old  holding  will  have  to  go,  and  there  is  little 
room  for  a  poor  man  in  this  overcrowded  country.  As 
you  know,  certain  property  will  revert  to  me  eventually, 
but,  remembering  what  is  in  our  blood,  I  dare  not  trust 
myself  to  drag  out  a  life  of  idleness  or  monotonous 
drudgery,  waiting  for  the  future  here.  The  curse  is  a 
very  real  thing — and  it  would  not  be  fair  to  you.  Now  I 
can  save  enough  from  the  wreck  to  start  us  without  posi- 
tive hardship  over  seas,  and  George  has  written  offering 
me  a  small  share  in  his  Australian  cattle-run.  You  shall 
want  for  nothing,  Millicent,  that  toil  can  win  you,  and 
I  know  that,  with  you  to  help  me,  I  shall  achieve  at  least 
a  competence." 

Millicent,  who  glanced  up  at  him  as  if  she  were  care- 
fully studying  him,  could  see  that  the  man  spoke  with 


8    THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

conviction.  She  knew  that  his  power  of  effort  and  dogged 
obstinacy  would  carry  him  far  toward  obtaining  whatever 
his  heart  desired.  She  dropped  her  long  lashes  as  he 
continued : 

"  Hitherto,  I  have  overcome  the  taint  I  spoke  of — you 
knew  what  it  was  when  you  gave  me  your  promise — and 
working  hard,  with  you  to  cheer  me,  in  a  new  land  under 
the  open  sun,  I  shall  crush  it  utterly.  Semi-poverty,  with 
an  ill-paid  task  that  demanded  but  half  my  energies, 
would  try  you,  Millicent,  and  be  dangerous  to  me.  What 
I  say  sounds  very  selfish,  doesn't  it — but  you  will  come?" 

There  was  an  appeal  in  his  voice  which  touched  the 
listener.  It  was  seldom  a  Thurston  of  Crosbie  asked  help 
from  anyone;  but  she  had  no  wish  to  encourage  Geoffrey 
in  what  she  considered  his  folly,  and  shook  her  head  with 
a  pretty  assumption  of  petulance. 

"  Don't  be  sensational."  she  said  with  a  wave  of  her 
hand.  "  You  are  prone  to  exaggeration,  and,  of  course,  I 
will  not  go  with  you.  How  could  I  help  you  to  chase 
wild  cattle?  Now,  try  to  be  sensible!  Come  to  terms 
with  these  company  people,  and  then  you  need  not  go." 

"  Would  you  have  me  a  thief  ?  "  asked  Geoffrey,  gazing 
down  upon  her  with  a  fierce  resentment  in  his  look  of 
reproach,  and  the  girl  shrank  from  him  a  little. 

"  Xo,  but,  so  far  as  I  understand  it,  tins  is  an  ordinary 
business  transaction,  and  if  these  people  are  willing  to 
buy  the  mine,  why  should  you  refuse?"  she  returned  in  a 
temporizing  tone. 

If  Thurston  was  less  in  love  with  Millicent  Austin  than 
he  had  been,  he  hardly  realized  it  then.  lie  was  dis- 
appointed, and  his  forehead  contracted  as  he  struggled 
with  as  heavy  a  temptation  as  could  have  assailed  the 
honor  of  any  man.  Millicent  was  very  fair  to  look  upon, 
as  she  turned  to  him  with  entreaty  and  anxiety  in  her 
face. 

Nevertheless,  he  answered  wearily:  "It  is  not  an 
ordinary  business  transaction.     Those  people  would  pay 


"THURSTON'S   FOLLY"  9 

me  with  the  general  public's  money,  and  when  the  mine 
proves  profitless,  as  it  certainly  will,  they  would  turn  the 
deluded  shareholders  loose  on  me." 

"  There  are  always  risks  in  mining,"  Millicent  observed 
significantly.  "  The  investing  public  understands  that, 
doesn't  it?  Of  course,  I  would  not  have  you  dishonest, 
but,  Geoffrey " 

Thurston  was  patient  in  action,  but  seldom  in  speech, 
and  he  broke  out  hotly : 

"  Many  a  woman  has  sent  a  man  to  his  damnation  for 
a  little  luxury,  but  I  expected  help  from  you.  Millicent, 
if  I  assist  those  swindlers  and  stay  here  dragging  out  the 
life  of  a  gentleman  pauper  on  a  dole  of  stolen  money,  I 
shall  go  down  and  down,  dragging  you  with  me.  If  you 
will  come  out  to  a  new  country  with  me,  I  know  you  will 
never  regret  it.  Whatever  is  best  worth  winning  over 
there,  I  will  win  for  you.  Can't  you  see  that  we  stand 
at  the  crossroads,  and  whichever  wajr  we  choose  there  can 
be  no  turning  back !  Think,  and  for  God's  sake  think 
well !     The  decision  means  everything  to  you  and  me." 

Atrain  Millicent  was  aware  of  an  unwilling  admiration 
for  the  speaker,  even  though  she  had  little  for  his  senti- 
ments. He  stood  erect,  with  a  grim  look  on  his  face,  his 
nostrils  quivering,  and  his  lips  firmly  set — stubborn, 
vindictive,  powerful.  Though  his  strength  was  untrained, 
she  knew  that  he  was  a  man  to  trust — great  in  his  very 
failings,  with  no  meanness  in  his  composition,  and  clearly 
born  for  risky  enterprise  and  hazardous  toil.  She  was 
a  little  afraid  of  him,  a  fact  which  was  not  in  itself  un- 
pleasant ;  but  she  dreaded  poverty  and  hardship !  With 
a  shrug  of  the  shoulder  upon  which  he  had  laid  his  hand, 
she  said : 

"  I  think  you  are  absurd  to-day ;  you  are  hurting  me. 
This  melodramatic  pose  approaches  the  ludicrous,  and  I 
have  really  no  patience  with  your  folly.  A  little  period 
of  calm  reflection  may  prove  beneficial,  and  I  will  leave 
you  to  it.     Clara  is  beckoning  me." 


10        THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLE1 

She  turned  away,  and  Thurston,  after  vainly  looking 
around  for  Clara,  stalked  sullenly  into  the  hall,  where  he 
flung  himself  down  in  a  chair  beside  an  open  window. 
It  did  not  please  him  to  see  Millieent  take  her  place  be- 
fore the  net  in  the  tennis  court  and  to  hear  her  laugh 
ring  lightly  across  the  lawn.  A  certain  sportsman  named 
Leslie,  who  had  devoted  himself  to  Miss  Austin's  service, 
watched  him  narrowly  from  a  corner  of  the  big  hall. 

"You  look  badly  hipped  over  something,  Thurston," 
commented  the  sportsman  presently.  "  I  suppose  it's  the 
mine,  and  would  like  to  offer  my  sympathy.  Might  I 
recommend  a  brandy-and-soda,  one  of  those  Cubanos,  and 
confidence?     Tom  left  the  bottle  handy  for  you." 

In  spite  of  the  family  failing,  or,  perhaps,  because  it 
was  the  only  thing  he  feared,  Thurston  had  been  an 
abstemious  man.  Now,  however,  he  emptied  one  stiff 
tumbler  at  a  gulp,  and  the  soda  frothed  in  the  second, 
when  he  noticed  a  curious  smile,  for  just  a  moment,  in 
the  eyes  of  his  companion.  The  smile  vanished  im- 
mediately, but  Thurston  had  seen  and  remembered.  It 
was  characteristic  of  him  that,  before  two  more  seconds 
had  passed,  the  glass  crashed  into  splinters  in  the  grate. 

"Quite  right!"  exclaimed  Leslie,  nodding.  "When 
one  feels  as  you  evidently  do,  a  little  of  that  sort  of  con- 
solation is  considerably  better  than  too  much.  You  don't, 
however,  appear  to  be  in  a  companionable  humor,  and 
perhaps  I  had  better  not  intrude  on  you." 

During  the  rest  of  the  afternoon,  Thurston  saw  little 
of  Millieent  and  Leslie  was  much  with  her. 

The  weather  changed  suddenly  when  at  dusk  Geoffrey 
rode  home.  In  forecast  of  winter,  a  bitter  breeze  sighed 
across  the  heather  and  set  the  harsh  grasses  moaning 
eerily.  The  sky  was  somber  overhead;  scarred  foil  and 
towering  pike  had  faded  to  blurs  of  dingy  gray,  and  thfr 
ghostly  whistling  of  curlew  emphasized  the  emptiness  of 
the  darkening  moor.  The  evening's  mood  suited  Geoffrey's, 
and  he  rode  slowly  with  loose  bridle.     The  bouquet  of  the 


"THURSTON'S   FOLLY"  11 

brandy  had  awakened  within  him  a  longing  that  he 
dreaded,  and  though,  hitherto,  he  had  been  too  intent 
upon  his  task  to  trouble  about  his  character,  it  was 
borne  in  upon  him  that  he  must  stand  fast  now  or  never. 
But  it  was  not  the  thought  of  his  own  future  which  first 
appealed  to  him.  Those  who  had  gone  before  him  had 
rarely  counted  consequences  when  tempted  by  either  wine 
or  women,  and  he  would  have  risked  that  freely.  Geoffrey 
was,  however,  in  his  own  eccentric  fashion,  a  just  man, 
and  he  dared  not  risk  bringing  disaster  upon  Millicent. 
So  he  rode  slowly,  thinking  hard,  until  the  horse,  which 
seemed  affected  by  its  master's  restlessness,  plunged  as 
a  dark  figure  rose  out  of  the  heather. 

"  Hallo,  is  it  you,  Evans  ? "  asked  the  rider,  with  a 
forced  laugh.  "  I  thought  it  was  the  devil.  He's  abroad 
to-night." 

"Thou'rt  wrang,  Mr.  Geoffrey,"  answered  the  game- 
keeper. "  It's  Thursday  night  he  comes.  Black  Jim  as 
broke  thy  head  for  thee  is  coming  with  t'  quarrymen  to 
poach  t'  covers.  Got  the  office  from  yan  with  a  grudge 
against  t'  gang,  an'  Captain  Franklin,  who's  layin'  for 
him,  sends  his  compliments,  thinkin'  as  maybe  thee  would 
like  f  fun." 

Thurston  rarely  forgot  either  an  injury  or  a  friend, 
and,  the  preceding  October,  when  tripping,  he  fell  help- 
less, Black  Jim  twice,  with  murderous  intent,  had 
brought  a  gun-butt  down  upon  his  unprotected  skull. 
Excitement  was  at  all  times  as  wine  to  him,  so,  promis- 
ing to  be  at  the  rendezvous,  he  rode  homeward  faster  than 
before,  with  a  sense  of  anticipation  which  helped  to  dull 
the  edge  of  his  care. 


CHAPTER    II 

A    DISILLUSION" 

It  was  a  clear  cold  night  when  Geoffrey  Thurston  met 
Captain  Franklin,  who  held  certain  sporting  rights  in  the 
vicinity,  at  the  place  agreed  upon.  The  captain  had 
brought  with  him  several  amateur  assistants  and  stable- 
hands  besides  two  stalwart  keepers.  Greeting  Thurston 
lie  said : 

"  Very  good  of  you  to  help  me !  Our  local  constable 
is  either  afraid  or  powerless,  and  I  must  accordingly  allow 
Black  Jim's  rascals  to  sweep  my  covers  or  take  the  law 
into  my  own  hands.  It  is  the  pheasants  he  is  after  now, 
and  he'll  start  early  so  as  to  get  his  plunder  off  from  the 
junction  by  the  night  mail,  and  because  the  moon  rises 
soon.  We  had  better  divide,  and  you  might  come  with 
Evans  and  me  to  the  beeches  while  the  others  search  the 
fir  spinney." 

Geoffrey,  assenting,  followed  the  officer  across  a  dew- 
damped  meadow  and  up  a  winding  lane  hung  with  gossa- 
mer-decked briars,  until  the  party  halted,  ankle-deep 
among  withered  leaves,  in  a  dry  ditch  just  outside  the 
wood.  There  were  reasons  why  each  detail  of  all  that 
happened  on  that  eventful  night  should  Impress  itself 
upon  Geoffrey's  memory,  and,  long  afterwards,  when  wan- 
dering far  out  in  the  shadow  of  limitless  forests  or  the 
chill  of  eternal  snow,  he  could  recall  every  incident. 
Leaves  that  made  crimson  glories  by  day  still  clung  low 
down  about  the  wide-girthed  trunks  beyond  the  straggling 
hedge  of  ancient  thorns,  but  the  higher  branches  i 
nakedly  against  faintly  luminous  sky.  Spruce  firs  formed 
clumps  of  solid  blackness,  and  here  and  there  a  delicate 
tracery  of  birch  boughs  filled  gaps  against  the  sky-lino 
between.     The    meadows    behind    him    were    silent    and 

19 


A    DISILLUSION  13 

empty,  streaked  with  belts  of  spectral  mist,  and,  because 
it  was  not  very  late,  he  could  see  a  red  glimmer  of  light 
in  the  windows  of  Barrow  Hall. 

But  if  the  grass  told  no  story  it  was  otherwise  with 
the  wood,  for  Geoffrey  could  hear  the  rabbits  thumping  in 
their  burrows  among  the  roots  of  the  thorn.  Twice  a 
cock-pheasant  uttered  a  drowsy,  raucous  crow,  and  there 
was  a  blundering  of  unseen  feathery  bodies  among  the 
spruce,  while,  when  this  ceased,  he  heard  a  water-hen  flutter 
with  feet  splashing  across  a  hidden  pool.  Then  heavy 
stillness  followed,  intensified  by  the  clamor  of  a  beck 
which  came  foaming  down  the  side  of  a  fell  until,  clatter- 
ing loudly,  wood-pigeons,  neither  asleep  nor  wholly  awake, 
drove  out  against  the  sky,  wheeled  and  fell  clumsily  into 
the  wood  again.  All  this  was  a  plain  warning,  and  keeper 
Evans  nodded  agreement  when  Captain  Franklin  said: 

"  There's  somebody  here,  and,  in  order  not  to  miss 
him,  we'll  divide  our  forces  once  more.  If  you'll  go  in 
by  the  Hall  footpath,  Thurston,  and  whistle  on  sight  of 
anything  suspicious,  I'd  be  much  obliged  to  you." 

A  few  minutes  later  Thurston  halted  on  the  topmost 
step  of  the  lofty  stile  by  which  a  footpath  from  the  Hall 
entered  the  wood.  Looking  back  across  misty  grass 
land  and  swelling  ridges  of  heather,  he  could  see  a  faint 
brightness  behind  the  eastern  rim  of  the  moor;  but,  when 
he  stepped  down,  it  was  very  dark  among  the  serried  tree- 
trunks.  The  slender  birches  had  faded  utterly,  the  stately 
beeches  resembled  dim  ghosts  of  trees  and  only  the  spruces 
retained,  imperfectly,  their  shape  and  form.  Thurston 
was  country  bred,  and,  lifting  high  his  feet  to  clear 
bramble  trailer  and  fallen  twig,  he  walked  by  feeling  in- 
stead of  sight.  The  beck  moaned  a  little  more  loudly, 
and  there  was  a  heavy  astringent  odor  of  damp  earth  and 
decaying  leaves.  When  beast  and  bird  were  still  again 
it  seemed  as  if  Nature,  worn  out  by  the  productive  effort 
of  summer,  were  sinking  under  solemn  silence  into  her 
winter  sleep. 


14   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

The  watcher  knew  the  wood  was  a  large  one  and  unlaw- 
ful  visitants  might  well  be  hidden  towards  its  farther  end. 
He  stood  still  at  intervals,  concentrating  all  his  powers 
to  listen,  but  his  ears  told  him  nothing  until  at  last  there 
was  a  rustle  somewhere  ahead.  Puzzled  by  the  sound, 
which  reminded  him  of  something  curiously  out  of  place 
in  the  lonely  wood,  he  instantly  sank  down  behind  an  ash 
tree. 

The  sound  certainly  was  not  made  by  withered  bracken 
or  bramble  leaves,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  stealthy 
fall  of  a  poacher's  heavy  boot.  It  came  again  more  clearly, 
and  Thurston  was  almost  sure  that  it  was  the  rustle  of  a 
woven  fabric,  such  as  a  woman's  dress.  To  confirm  this 
opinion  a  soft  laugh  followed.  He  rose,  deciding  it  could 
only  be  some  assignation  with  a  maid  from  the  Hall,  and 
no  business  of  his.  He  had  turned  to  retreat  when  he 
noticed  the  eastern  side  of  a  silver  fir  reflect  a  faint  shim- 
mer. Glancing  along  the  beam  of  light  that  filtered 
through  a  fantastic  fretwork  of  delicate  birch  twigs  arch- 
ing a  drive,  he  saw  a  broad,  bright  disk  hanging  low- 
above  the  edge  of  the  moor.  It  struck  him  that  perhaps 
the  poachers  had  used  the  girl  to  coax  information  out 
of  a  young  groom  or  keeper,  and  that  she  was  now  warn- 
ing them.  So  he  waited,  debating,  because  he  was  a  rudely 
chivalrous  person,  how  he  might  secure  the  girl's  compan- 
ion without  involving  the  girl's  disgrace.  Again  a  laugh 
rose  from  beyond  a  thicket.  Then  he  heard  the  voice  of 
a  man. 

Geoffrey  was  puzzled,  for  the  laugh  was  musical,  unlike 
a  rustic  giggle ;  and,  though  the  calling  of  the  beck  partly 
drowned  it,  the  man's  voice  did  not  resemble  that  of  a 
laborer.  Thurston  moved  again,  wondering  whether  it 
was  not  some  affair  of  Leslie's  from  the  Hall,  and  whether 
he  ought  not  to  slip  away  after  all.  The  birch  boughs 
sighed  a  little,  there  was  a  fluttering  down  of  withered 
leaves,  and  he  remained  undecided,  gripping  his  stout  oak 
cudgel  by  the  middle.     Then  the  hot  blood  pulsed  fiercely 


A    DISILLUSION  15 

through  every  artery,  for  the  voice  rose  once  more,  harsh 
and  clear  this  time,  with  almost  a  threat  in  the  tone, 
and  there  was  no  possibility  of  doubting  that  the  speaker 
was  Leslie. 

"  This  cannot  continue,  Millicent,"  the  voice  said.  "  It 
has  gone  on  too  long,  and  I  will  not  be  trifled  with. 
You  cannot  have  both  of  us,  and  my  patience  is  exhausted. 
Leave  the  fool  to  his  folly." 

Geoffrey  raised  the  cudgel  and  dropped  it  to  his  side. 
Turning  suddenly  cold,  he  remained  for  a  second  or  two 
almost  without  power  of  thought  or  motion.  The  dis- 
illusion was  cruel.  The  woman's  light  answer  filled  him 
with  returning  fury  and  he  hurled  himself  at  a  thicket 
from  which,  amid  a  crash  of  branches,  he  reeled  out  into 
the  sight  of  the  speakers.  The  moon  was  well  clear  of  the 
moor  now,  and  silver  light  and  inky  shadow  checkered 
the  mosses  of  the  drive. 

With  a  little  scream  of  terror  Millicent  sprang  apart 
from  her  companion's  side  and  stood  for  a  space  staring 
at  the  man  who  had  appeared  out  of  the  rent-down  under- 
growth. The  pale  light  beat  upon  Geoffrey's  face,  show- 
ing it  was  white  with  anger.  Looking  from  Geoffrey,  the 
girl  glanced  towards  Leslie,  who  waited  in  the  partial 
shadow  of  a  hazel  bush.  Even  had  he  desired  to  escape, 
which  was  possible,  the  bush  would  have  cut  off  his  re- 
treat. 

Geoffrey  turned  fiercely  from  one  to  the  other.  The 
woman,  who  stood  with  one  hand  on  a  birch  branch,  was 
evidently  struggling  to  regain  her  courage.  Her  lips 
were  twitching  and  her  pale  blue  eyes  were  very  wide  open. 
The  man  was  shrinking  back  as  far  as  possible  in  a  man- 
ner which  suggested  physical  fear;  he  had  heard  the 
dalesfolk  say  a  savage  devil,  easily  aroused,  lurked  in  all 
the  Thurstons,  and  the  one  before  him  looked  distinctly 
dangerous  just  then.  Leslie  was  weak  in  limb  as  well  as 
moral  fiber,  and  it  was  Geoffrey  who  broke  the  painful 
6ilence. 


16   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  What  are  you  doing  here  at  such  an  hour  with  this 
man,  Millicent?"  he  asked  sternly.  "No  answer!  It 
appears  that  some  explanation  is  certainly  due  to  me — ■ 
and  I  mean  to  force  it  out  of  one  of  you." 

Millicent,  saying  nothing,  gazed  at  her  companion,  as 
if  conjuring  him  to  speak  plainly  and  to  end  an  intoler- 
able position.  Geoffrey  read  her  meaning,  even  though 
Leslie,  who  glanced  longingly  over  his  shoulder  down  the 
drive,  refused  to  do  so.  Because  there  was  spirit  in  her, 
and  she  had  recovered  from  the  first  shock  of  surprise, 
Millicent  ground  one  little  heel  into  the  mosses  with  a 
gesture  of  disgusf  and  anger  when  the  man  made  answer: 

"  I  resent  your  attitude  and  question.  We  came  out  to 
see  the  moon  rise  on  the  moor,  and  found  the  night  breeze 
nipping." 

Geoffrey  laughed  harshly  before  he  repeated :  "  You 
found  the  breeze  nipping!  There  is  scarcely  an  air  astir. 
And  you  understand  the  relations  existing  between  Miss 
Austin  and  me?  I  want  a  better  reason.  Millicent,  you, 
at  least,  are  not  a  coward — dare  you  give  it  me  ?  " 

"  I  challenge  your  right  to  demand  an  account  of  my 
actions,"  said  the  girl.  With  an  evident  effort  to  defy 
Thurston,  she  added,  after  a  pause,  "  But  the  explanation 
must  have  come  sooner  or  later,  and  you  shall  have  it  now. 
I  have  grown — perhaps  the  brutal  truth  is  best — tired  of 
you  and  your  folly.  You  would  sacrifice  my  future  to 
your  fantastic  pride — and  this  man  would  give  up  every- 
thing for  me." 

The  first  heat  of  Geoffrey's  passion  was  past,  and  he 
was  now  coldly  savage  because  of  the  woman's  treachery. 

"  I  in  hiding  his  conscience  and  honor,  but  not  his  per- 
sonal safety!"  he  supplemented  contemptuously.  "Mil- 
licent, one  could  almost  admire  you."  Turning  to  Leslie 
he  asked:  "But  are  you  struck  dumb  that  you  let  the 
woman  speak?  This  was  my  promised  wife  to  whom  you 
haw  been  making  love,  though,  for  delicacy  would  be 
superfluous,  it  is  evident  that  she   has  not  discouraged 


A    DISILLUSION  17 

yon.    Until  three  days  ago  I  could  have  trusted  my  life 
to  her.     Now,  I  presume,  she  has  pledged  herself  to  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Leslie,  recovering  his  equanimity  as 
his  fears  grew  less  oppressive.  He  began  to  excuse  him- 
self but  Geoffrey  cut  him  short  with  a  gesture. 

"  Then,  even  if  I  desired  to  make  them,  my  protests 
would  be  useless,"  said  Geoffrey.  "  I  am  at  least  grateful 
for  your  frankness,  Millicent ;  it  prevented  me  from  wring- 
ing the  truth  from  your  somewhat  abject  lover.  Had  you 
told  me  honestly,  when  this  man  first  spoke  to  you,  that 
you  had  grown  tired  of  me,  I  would  have  released  you, 
and  I  would  have  tried  to  wish  you  well.  Now  I  can 
only  say,  that  at  least  you  know  the  worst  of  each  other 
— and  there  will  be  less  disappointment  when,  stripped 
of  either  mutual  or  self  respect,  you  begin  life  together. 
But  I  was  forgetting  that  Franklin's  keepers  are  search- 
ing the  wood.  Some  of  them  might  talk.  Go  at  once  by 
the  Hall  path,  as  softly  as  you  can." 

The  man  and  the  girl  were  plainly  glad  to  hurry  away, 
and  Geoffrey  waited  until  the  sound  of  their  footsteps 
became  scarcely  audible  before  he  heeded  a  faint  rustling 
which  indicated  that  somebody  with  a  knowledge  of  wood- 
craft was  forcing  a  passage  through  the  undergrowth. 
He  broke  a  dry  twig  at  intervals  as  he  walked  slowly  for 
a  little  distance.  Then  he  dropped  on  hands  and  knees 
to  cross  a  strip  of  open  sward  at  an  angle  to  his  previous 
course,  and  lay  still  in  the  black  shadow  of  a  spruce.  It 
was  evident  that  somebody  was  following  his  trail,  and 
the  pursuer,  passing  his  hiding-place,  followed  it  straight 
on.  Geoffrey's  was  a  curious  character,  and  the  very 
original  cure  for  a  disappointment  in  love,  that  of  baffling 
a  game  watcher  while  his  faithless  mistress  escaped, 
brought  him  relief;  it  left  no  time  for  reflection. 

Presently  he  dashed  across  a  bare  strip  of  velvet  mosses 
and  rabbit-cropped  turf,  slipped  between  the  roots  of  the 
hedge,  and,  running  silently  beneath  it,  halted  several 
score  yards  away  face  to  face  with  the  astonished  keeper. 


18   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"Weel,  I'm  clanged;  this  clean  beats  me,"  gasped  that 
worthy.  "  Hello,  behind  there.  It's  only  Mr.  Geoffrey, 
sir.  Didst  see  Black  Jim  slip  out  this  way,  or  hear  a 
scream  a  laal  while  gone  by  ?  " 

"  I  saw  no  one,"  answered  Geoffrey,  "  but  I  heard  the 
scream.  It  was  not  unlike  a  hare  squealing  in  a  snare. 
You  and  I  must  have  been  stalking  each  other,  Evans, 
and  Black  Jim  can't  be  here." 

The  rest  came  up  as  they  spoke,  and  Captain  Frank- 
lin said,  "  You  seem  badly  disappointed  at  missing  your 
old  enemy,  Thurston.  I  never  saw  you  look  so  savage. 
I  expect  Black  Jim  has  tricked  us,  after  all." 

"  I've  had  several  troubles  lately,  and  don't  find  much 
amusement  in  hunting  poachers  who  aren't  there,"  said 
Geoffrey.  "  You  will  excuse  me  from  going  back  with 
you." 

He  departed  across  the  meadows,  at  a  swinging  pace, 
and  the  keeper,  who  stared  after  him,  commented : 

"  Something  gradely  wrang  with  Mr.  Geoffrey  to-night. 
They're  an  ill  folk  to  counter  yon,  and  it's  maybe  as  well 
for  Black  Jim  as  Mr.  Geoffrey  didn't  get  hold  on  him." 

Geoffrey  saw  no  more  of  Millicent,  but  once  he  visited 
her  younger  sister,  a  gentle  invalid,  who,  because  of  the 
friendship  which  had  long  existed  between  them,  said : 
"  You  must  try  to  believe  I  mean  it  in  kindness  when" 
I  say  that  I  am  not  wholly  sorry,  Geoffrey.  You  and 
Millicent  would  never  have  gotten  on  well  together,  and 
while  I  wish  the  awakening  could  have  happened  in  a 
more  creditable  way,  you  will  realize — when  some- 
body else  makes  you  happy — that  all  has  been  for  the 
best." 

"  That  day  will  be  long  in  coming,"  declared  the  man, 
grimly,  and  the  sick  girl  laid  a  thin  white  hand  on  his 
hard  one  as  she  answered  him. 

"  It  is  not  a  flattering  speech,  and  you  must  not  lose 
faith  in  all  of  us,"  the  invalid  went  on.  "Lying  still 
here,  helpless,  I  have  often  thought  about  both  of  you, 


* 


A    DISILLUSION  19 

and  I  feel  that  you  have  done  well  in  choosing  a  new  life 
in  a  new  country.  When  you  go  out,  Geoffrey,  you  will 
take  my  fervent  wishes  for  your  welfare  with  you." 

Janet  Austin  was  frail  and  worn  by  pain.  Her  pale 
face  flushed  a  little  as  the  man  suddenly  stooped  and 
touched  her  forehead  with  his  lips. 

"  God  bless  you  for  your  kindly  heart,"  he  said.  "  A 
ruined  man  has  very  few  friends,  and  many  acquaintances 
are  waiting  to  convince  him  that  his  downfall  is  the  re- 
sult of  his  own  folly,  but " — and  he  straightened  his  wiry 
frame,  while  his  eyes  glinted — "they  have  not  seen  the 
end,  and  even  if  beaten,  there  is  satisfaction  in  a  stub- 
born, single-handed  struggle." 

Janet  Austin,  perhaps  thinking  of  her  own  helpless- 
ness, sighed  as  she  answered: 

"  I  do  not  think  you  will  be  beaten,  Geoffrey,  but  if  you 
will  take  advice  from  me,  remember  that  over-confidence 
in  your  powers  and  the  pride  that  goes  with  it  may  cost 
you  many  a  minor  victory.  Good-by,  and  good  luck, 
Geoffrey.     You  will  remember  me." 

That  afternoon,  while  Thurston  was  in  the  midst  of 
preparations  to  leave  his  native  land,  the  mining  engineer 
called  upon  him  with  a  provincial  newspaper  in  his  hand. 
"  I  suppose  this  is  your  answer,"  he  remarked,  laying  his 
finger  on  a  paragraph. 

"  Mr.  G.  Thurston,  who  has,  in  the  face  of  many  diffi- 
culties, attempted  to  exploit  the  copper  vein  in  Crosbie 
Fell,  has  been  compelled  to  close  the  mine,"  the  printed 
lines  ran.  "  We  understand  he  came  upon  an  unexpected 
break  in  the  strata,  coupled  with  a  subsidence  which 
practically  precludes  the  possibility  of  following  the  lost 
lead  with  any  hope  of  commercial  success.  He  has,  there- 
fore, placed  his  affairs  in  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Lonsdale 
&  Eouth,  solicitors,  and,  we  understand,  intends  emigrat- 
ing. His  many  friends  and  former  employees  wish  him 
success." 


20   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  Yes,"  Geoffrey  answered  dryly,  "  I  sent  them  the  in- 
formation, also  a  copy  to  London  financial  papers.  Con- 
sidering the  interest  displayed  just  now  in  British  mines, 
they  should  insert  a  paragraph.  I've  staked  down  youfl 
backers'  game  in  return  for  your  threats,  and  you  may  be 
thankful  you  have  come  off  so  easily.  Your  check  is 
ready.     It  is  the  last  you  will  ever  get  from  me." 

The  expert  smiled  almost  good-naturedly.  "You 
needn't  have  taken  so  much  trouble,  Thurston,"  he  said. 
"  The  exploitation  of  your  rabbit  burrow  would  only  have 
been  another  drop  in  the  bucket  to  my  correspondents, 
and  it's  almost  a  pity  we  can't  be  friends,  for,  with  some 
training,  your  sledge-hammer  style  would  make  its  mark 
in  the  ring." 

"  Thanks !  "  replied  Geoffrey.  "  I'm  not  fishing  for 
compliments,  and  it's  probably  no  use  explaining  my 
motives — you  wouldn't  understand  them.  Still,  in 
future,  don't  set  down  every  man  commonly  honest  as 
an  uncommon  fool.  If  I  ever  had  much  money,  which 
is  hardly  likely,  I  should  fight  extremely  shy  of  any  in- 
vestments recommended  by  your  friends !  " 


CHAPTER   III 

Geoffrey's  first  contract 

It  was  springtime  among  the  mountains  which,  glisten- 
ing coldly  white  with  mantles  of  eternal  snow,  towered 
above  the  deep-sunk  valley,  when,  one  morning,  Geoffrey 
Thurston  limped  painfully  out  of  a  redwood  forest  of 
British  Columbia.  The  boom  of  a  hidden  river  set  the 
pine  sprays  quivering.  A  blue  grouse  was  drumming 
deliriously  on  the  top  of  a  stately  fir,  and  the  morning 
sun  drew  clean,  healing  odors  from  balsam  and  cedar. 

The  scene  was  characteristic  of  what  is  now  the  grand- 
est and  wildest,  as  it  will  some  day  be  the  richest,  province 
of  the  Canadian  Dominion.  The  serene  majesty  of  snow- 
clad  heights  and  the  grandeur  of  vast  shadowy  aisles, 
with  groined  roofs  of  red  branches  and  mighty  colonnades 
of  living  trunks,  were  partly  lost  upon  the  traveler  who, 
most  of  the  preceding  night,  had  trudged  wearily  over 
rough  railroad  ballast.  He  had  acquired  Colonial  ex- 
perience of  the  hardest  kind  by  working  through  the 
winter  in  an  Ontario  logging  camp,  which  is  a  rough 
school. 

An  hour  earlier  the  man,  to  visit  whom  Thurston  had 
undertaken  an  eight-league  journey,  had  laughed  in  his 
face  when  he  offered  to  drain  a  lake  which  flooded  his 
ranch.  Saying  nothing,  but  looking  grimmer  than  ever, 
Geoffrey  had  continued  his  weary  journey  in  search  of 
sustenance.  He  frowned  as  he  Hung  himself  down  be- 
neath a  fir,  for,  shimmering  like  polished  steel  between 
the  giant  trees,  the  glint  of  water  caught  his  eye,  and  the 
blue  wood  smoke  curling  over  the  house  on  a  distant  slope 
suggested  the  usual  plentiful  Colonial  breakfast. 

Although   Geoffrey's   male   forbears  had   been  reckless 

21 


22   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

men,  his  mother  had  transmitted  him  a  strain  of  north- 
country  canniness.  The  remnant  of  his  poor  possessions, 
converted  into  currency,  lay  in  a  Canadian  bank  to  pro- 
vide working  capital  and,  finding  no  scope  for  his  mental 
abilities,  he  had  wandered  here  and  there  endeavoring  to 
sell  the  strength  of  his  body  for  daily  bread.  Sometimes 
he  had  been  successful,  more  often  he  had  failed,  but  al- 
ways, when  he  would  accept  it,  the  kindly  bush  settlers 
gave  him  freely  of  their  best.  As  he  basked  in  the 
warmth  and  brightness,  he  took  from  his  pocket  a  few 
cents'  worth  of  crackers.  When  he  had  eaten,  his  face 
relaxed,  for  the  love  of  wild  nature  was  born  in  him, 
and  the  glorious  freshness  of  the  spring  was  free  to  the 
poorest  as  well  as  to  the  richest.  He  stooped  to  drink 
at  a  glacier-fed  rill,  and  then  producing  a  corn-cob  pipe, 
sighed  on  finding  that  only  the  tin  label  remained  of  his 
cake  of  tobacco. 

Through  the  shadow  of  the  firs  two  young  women 
watched  him  with  curiosity.  The  man  looked  worn  and 
weary,  his  jean  jacket  was  old  and  torn,  and  an  essential 
portion  of  one  boot  was  missing.  The  stranger's  face 
had  been  almost  blackened  by  the  snow-reflected  glare 
of  the  clear  winter  sun,  and  yet  both  girls  decided  that 
he  was  hardly  a  representative  specimen  of  the  wandering 
fraternity  of  tramps. 

Helen  Savine  was  slender,  tall,  and  dark.  Though 
arrayed  in  a  plain  dress  of  light  fabric,  she  carried  her- 
self with  a  dignity  befitting  the  daughter  of  the  famous 
engineering  contractor,  Julius  Savine,  and  a  descendant, 
through  her  mother,  from  Seigneurs  of  ancient  French 
descent  who  had  ruled  in  patriarchal  fashion  in  ohl- 
world  Quebec.  Jean  Graham,  whose  father  owned  the 
anch  on  the  slope  behind  them,  was  ruddy  in  face,  with 

olidity  of  frame  that  betokened  Caledonian  extraction, 
and  true  trans-Atlantic  directness  of  speech. 

'  IN'  must  be  hungry,"  whispered  Jean.  "Quite  good- 
looking,  too,  and  it's  queer  he  sits  there  munching  those 


GEOFFREY'S    FIRST    CONTRACT  23 

crackers,  instead  of  walking  straight  up  and  striking  us 
for  a  meal.  I  don't  like  to  see  a  good-looking  man 
hungry,"  she  added,  reflectively. 

"  We  will  go  down  and  speak  to  him,"  said  Helen,  and 
the  suggestion  that  she  should  interview  a  wandering 
vagrant  did  not  seem  out  of  place  in  that  country  where 
men  from  many  different  walks  of  life  turned  their  often 
ill-fitted  hands  to  the  rudest  labor  that  promised  them  a 
livelihood.  In  any  case,  Helen  possessed  a  somewhat  im- 
perious will,  which  was  supplemented  by  a  grace  of  man- 
ner which  made  whatever  she  did  appear  right. 

Geoffrey,  looking  round  at  the  sound  of  approaching 
steps,  stood  suddenly  upright,  thrusting  the  more  dilapi- 
dated boot  behind  the  other,  and  wondering  with  what 
purpose  the  two  girls  had  sought  him.  One  he  recognized 
as  a  type  common  enough  throughout  the  Dominion — 
kindly,  shrewd,  somewhat  hard-featured  and  caustic  in 
speech;  but  the  other,  who  looked  down  on  him  with 
thinly-veiled  pity,  more  resembled  the  women  of  birth 
and  education  whom  he  had  seen  in  England. 

'  You  are  a  stranger  to  this  district.  Looking  for 
work,  perhaps?"  said  Helen  Savine.  Geoffrey  lifted  his 
wide  and  battered  felt  hat  as  he  answered,  "  I  am." 

"  There  is  work  here,"  announced  Helen.  "  I  can  offer 
you  a  dollar  now — if  you  would  care  to  earn  it.  Yonder 
rock,  which  I  believe  is  a  loose  boulder,  obstructs  our 
wagon  trail.  If  you  are  willing  to  remove  it  and  will 
follow  us  to  the  ranch,  you  will  find  suitable  tools." 

Geoffrey  flushed  a  little  under  his  tan.  When  seeking 
work  he  had  grown  used  to  being  sworn  at  by  foremen 
with  Protectionist  tendencies,  but  it  galled  him  to  be 
offered  a  woman's  charity,  and  the  words  "  If  you  would 
care  to  earn  it,"  left  a  sting.  Nevertheless,  he  reflected 
that  any  superfluous  sensitiveness  would  be  distinctly  out 
of  place  in  one  of  his  position,  and,  considering  the  wages 
paid  in  that  country,  the  man  who  rolled  the  boulder 
clear    would  well  earn  his  dollar.     Accordingly  he  an- 


M        THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

swered :   "  I   should    be   glad   to   remove   the   rock,    if   I 


can." 


The  two  young  women  turned  back  towards  the  ranch, 
and  Thurston  followed  respectfully,  as  far  as  possible  in 
the  rear,  that  they  might  not  observe  the  condition  of 
his  attire.  This  was  an  entirely  superfluous  precaution, 
for  Helen's  keen  eyes  had  noticed. 

Reaching  the  ranch,  Geoffrey  possessed  himself  of  a 
grub-hoe,  which  is  a  pick  with  an  adz-shaped  blade  with 
an  ax  and  shovel;  also  he  returned  with  the  girls  to  the 
boulder.  For  an  hour  or  two  he  toiled  hard,  grubbing 
out  hundredweights  of  soil  and  gravel  from  round  about 
the  rock.  Then  cutting  a  young  fir  he  inserted  the  butt 
of  it  as  a  lever,  and  spent  another  thirty  minutes  focusing 
his  full  strength  on  the  opposite  end.  The  rock,  how- 
ever, refused  to  move  an  inch,  and,  because  a  few  crackers 
are  not  much  for  a  hungry  man  to  work  on  after  an  all- 
night  march,  Thurston  became  conscious  that  he  had  a 
headache  and  a  distressful  stitch  in  his  side.  Still,  being 
obstinate  and  filled  with  an  unreasoning  desire  to  prove 
his  trustworthiness  to  his  fair  employer,  he  continued 
doggedly,  and  after  another  hour's  digging  found  the 
stone  still  immovable.  Then  it  happened  that  while,  with 
the  perspiration  dripping  from  him,  he  tugged  at  the 
1'  vcr,  the  rancher  who  had  rebuffed  him  that  morning, 
drew  rein  close  beside. 

"  Hello !  What  are  you  after  now  ?  You're  messing 
all  this  trail  up  if  you're  doing  nothing  else,"  he  declared 
in  ;i  tone  of  challenge. 

'•  If  you  have  come  here  to  amuse  yourself  at  my  ex- 
c,  take  care.  Fm  not  in  the  mood  for  baiting,"  an- 
swered  Thurston,  who  still  smarted  under  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  summary  manner  in  which  the  speaker  had 
rejected  his  proffered  services.  "  There  are,  however, 
folks  in  this  country  more  willing  to  give  a  stranger  a 
chance  than  you,  and  I've  taken  a  contract  to  remove 
that  rock  for  a  dollar.  Now,  if  you  are  satisfied,  ride  on 
your  way." 


GEOFFREY'S    FIRST    CONTRACT         25 

"  Then  you've  made  a  blame  bad  bargain,"  commented 
the  rancher,  with  unruffled  good  humor.  "  I  was  figur- 
ing that  I  might  help  you.  I  thought  you  were  a  hobo 
after  my  .chickens,  or  trying  to  bluff  me  into  a  free  meal 
this  morning.  If  you'd  asked  straight  for  it,  I'd  have 
given  it  you." 

Geoffrev  hesitated,  divided  between  an  inclination  to 
laugh  or  to  assault  the  rancher,  who  perhaps  guessed  his 
thoughts,  for,  dismounting,  he  said: 

"  If  you're  so  mighty  thin-skinned  what  are  you  doing 
here?  Why  don't  you  British  dukes  stop  right  back  in 
3'our  own  country  where  folks  touch  their  hats  to  you? 
Let  me  on  to  that  lever." 

For  at  least  twenty  minutes,  the  two  men  tugged  and 
panted.     Then  Bransome,  the  rancher,  said: 

"  The  blame  thing's  either  part  of  the  out-crop  or 
wedged  fast  there  forever,  and  I've  no  more  time  to  spare. 
Say,  Graham's  a  hard  man,  and  has  been  playing  it  low 
on  you.  What's  the  matter  with  turning  his  contract  up 
and  going  over  to  fill  oat  bags  for  me  ?  " 

"  Thanks,  but  having  given  my  word  to  move  that 
rock,  I'm  going  to  stay  here  until  I  do  it,"  answered 
Geoffrey ;  and  Bransome,  nodding  to  him,  rode  on  towards 
the  ranch. 

When  he  reached  it  Bransome  said  to  Jean  Graham  in 
the  hearing  of  Miss  Savine : 

"  The  old  man  has  taken  in  yonder  guileless  stranger 
who  has  put  two  good  dollars'  worth  of  work  into  that  job 
already,  and  the  rock's  rather  faster  than  it  was  be- 
fore." 

"  Did  he  say  Mr.  Graham  hired  him  ?  "  asked  Helen, 
and  she  drew  her  own  inference  when  Bransome  answered : 
"  Why,  no !     I  put  it  that  way,  and  he  didn't  contradict 
me." 

It  was  afternoon  when  Thurston  realized  at  last  that 
even  considerable  faith  in  one's  self  is  not  sufficient,  un? 
aided,  to  move  huge  boulders.  He  felt  faint  and  hungry, 
but  the  pride  of  the  Insular  Briton  restrained  him  from. 


VG        THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

begging  for  a  meal.  His  own  dislike  to  acknowledge 
defeat  also  prompted  him  to  decide  that  where  weary 
iiiuscles  failed,  mechanical  power  might  succeed,  and  he 
determined  to  tramp  back  a  league  to  the  settlement  in 
"the  hope  of  perhaps  obtaining  a  drill  and  some  giant 
powder  on  credit.  He  had  not  studied  mining  theo- 
retically as  well  as  in  a  costly  practical  school  for 
nothing. 

It  was  a  rough  trail  to  the  settlement.  The  red  dust 
lay  thick  upon  it  and  the  afternoon  sun  was  hot.  When 
at  last,  powdered  all  over  with  dust  and  very  weary, 
Thurston  came  in  sight  of  the  little  wooden  store,  he 
noticed  Bransome's  horse  fastened  outside  it.  He  did  not 
see  the  rancher,  who  sat  on  an  empty  box  behind  a  sugar 
hogshead  inside  the  counter. 

"  I  want  two  sticks  of  giant  powder,  a  fathom  or  two 
of  fuse,  and  several  detonators,"  said  Geoffrey  as  indiffer- 
ently as  he  could.  "  I  have  only  two  bits  at  present  to 
pay  for  them,  but  if  they  don't  come  to  more  than  a  dollar 
you  shall  have  the  rest  to-morrow.  I  also  want  to  bor- 
row a  drill." 

The  storekeeper  was  used  to  giving  much  longer  credit 
than  Geoffrey  wanted,  but  the  glance  he  cast  at  the  appli- 
cant was  not  reassuring,  and  it  is  possible  he  might  have 
refused  his  request,  but  that,  unseen  by  Thurston,  Bran- 
some  signaled  to  him  from  behind  the  barrel. 

u  We  don't  trade  that  way  with  strangers  generally," 
the  storekeeper  answered.  "  Still,  if  you  want  them 
special,  and  will  pay  me  what  they're  worth  to-morrow, 
I'll  oblige  you,  and  even  lend  you  a  set  of  drills.  But 
you'll  come  back  sure,  and  not  lose  any  of  them  drills  ?  " 
lie  added  dubiously. 

"  I  haven't  come  here  to  rob  you.  It's  a  business  deal, 
and  not  a  favor  I'm  asking,"  asserted  Geoffrey  grimly, 
and  when  he  withdrew  the  storekeeper  observed  : 

"  Why  can't  you  do  your  own  charity,  Bransome,  in- 
stead of  taxing  me?     That's  the  crank  who  wanted  t<? 


GEOFFREY'S    FIRST    CONTRACT  27 

run  your  lake  down,  isn't  he?  I  guess  I'll  never  see 
either  him  or  them  drills  again." 

"  You  will,"  the  rancher  assured  him.  "  If  that  man's 
alive  to-morrow  you'll  get  your  money;  I'll  go  bail  for 
him.  He's  just  the  man  you  mention,  but  I'm  consider- 
ably less  sure  about  the  crankiness  than  I  was  this  morn- 
ing.    There's  a  quantity  of  fine  clean  sand  in  him." 

Meanwhile,  and  soon  after  Geoffrey  had  set  out  for  the 
store,  the  two  girls  strolled  down  the  trail  to  ascertain 
how  he  was  progressing.  They  looked  at  each  other 
significantly  when  they  came  upon  the  litter  of  debris 
and  tools. 

"  Lit  out !  "  announced  Jean  Graham.  "  The  sight  of 
all  that  work  was  too  much  for  him.  He'll  be  lying  on 
his  back  now  by  the  river  thinking  poetry.  This  coun- 
try's just  thick  with  reposeful  Britishers  nobody  at  home 
has  any  use  for,  and  their  kind  friends  ship  off  onto  us.  In 
a  way  I'm  sorry.  He  lit  out  hungry,  and  he  didn't  look 
like  a  loafer." 

"  I'm  afraid  we  were  a  little  hard  upon  him,"  said 
Helen,  smiling.  "  Still,  I  am  somewhat  surprised  he  did 
not  carry  out  his  bargain." 

"  You  can  never  trust  those  gilt-edge  Britishers,"  said 
Jean  Graham  with  authority.  "  There  was  old  man 
Peters  who  took  one  of  them  in,  and  he'd  sit  in  the  store 
nights  making  little  songs  to  his  banjo,  and  talking  just 
wonderful.  Said  he  was  a  baronet  or  something,  if  he 
had  his  rights,  and  made  love  to  Sally.  Old  fool  Peters 
believed  him,  and  lent  him  three  hundred  dollars  to  start 
a  lawsuit  over  his  English  property  with.  Dessay  Peters 
thought  red-haired  Sally  would  look  well  trailing  round 
as  a  countess  in  a  gold-hemmed  dress.  The  baronet  took 
the  money,  but  wanted  some  more,  and  lit  out  the  same 
night  with  Lou  of  the  Sapin  Rouge  saloon." 

"  I  should  hardly  expect  all  that  from  our  acquaint- 
ance of  this  morning,  but  I  am  disappointed,  though  I'm 
sure  I  don't  know  why  I  should  be,"  said  Helen  Savine. 


28   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

The  sunlight  had  faded  from  the  valley,  though  the 
peaks  still  shimmered  orange  and  red,  and  the  broken 
edge  of  a  glacier  flashed  like  a  great  rose  diamond,  when 
the  two  girls  sat  on  the  veranda  encircling  Graham's 
ranch-house.  The  rancher  and  his  stalwart  sons  were 
away  rounding  up  his  cattle,  but  Jean  was  expecting  both 
them  and  her  mother  and  the  delayed  supper  was  ready. 
The  evening  was  very  still  and  cool.  The  life-giving  air 
was  heavy  with  the  breath  of  dew-touched  cedars,  while 
the  hoarse  clamor  of  the  river  accentuated  the  hush  of  the 
mountain  solitude.  Strange  to  say,  both  of  the  girls  were 
thinking  about  the  vagrant,  and  Helen  Savine,  who  con- 
sidered herself  a  judge  of  character,  had  been  more  im- 
pressed by  him  than  she  would  have  cared  to  admit. 
There  was  no  doubt,  she  reflected,  that  the  man  was  toler- 
ably good-looking  and  had  enjoyed  some  training,  though 
perhaps  not  the  best,  in  England.  He  had  also  known 
adversity,  she  deduced  from  the  gauntness  of  his  face  and 
a  certain  grimness  of  expression.  She  had  noticed  that 
his  chin  indicated  a  masterful  expression  and  she  was, 
therefore,  the  more  surprised  that  he  had  allowed  him- 
self to  be  vanquished  by  the  boulder. 

Suddenly  a  heavy  crash  broke  through  the  musical 
jangle  of  cow  bells  that  drew  nearer  up  the  valley,  and  a 
cloud  of  yellow  smoke  curling  above  the  dark  branches 
spread  itself  across  the  fir  tops  in  filmy  folds. 

"  I  guess  that's  our  hobo  blowing  the  rock  up ! "  cried 
Jean.  "  I  wonder  where  he  stole  the  giant  powder  from. 
Well,  daddy's  found  his  cattle,  and  the  swearing  will  have 
made  him  hungry.  I'll  start  Kate  on  to  the  supper,  and 
we'll  bring  the  man  in  when  he  comes  round  for  his 
dollar." 

Presently  Thurston  knocked  at  the  door,  and  strode 
in  at  a  summons  to  enter.  Slightly  abashed,  he  halted 
inside  the  threshold.  Jean,  looking  ruddy  and  winsome 
in  light  print  dress,  with  sleeves  rolled  clear  of  each  plump 
fore-arm,  was  spreading  great  platefuls  of  hot  cakes  and 


GEOFFREY'S    FIRST    CONTRACT         29 

desiccated  fruits  among  the  more  solid  viands  on  the 
snowy  tablecloth.  Geoffrey  found  it  difficult  to  refrain 
from  glancing  wolfishly  at  the  good  things  until  his  eyes 
rested  upon  Miss  Savine,  and  then  it  cost  him  an  effort 
to  turn  them  away.  Helen  reclined  on  an  ox-hide  lounge. 
An  early  rose  rested  among  the  glossy  clusters  of  her 
thick,  dark  hair.  A  faint  tinge  of  crimson  showed 
through  the  pale  olive  in  her  cheek,  and  he  caught  the 
glimmer  of  pearly  teeth  between  the  ripe  red  lips.  In 
her  presence  he  grew  painfully  conscious  that  he  was 
ragged,  toil-stained  and  dusty,  though  he  had  made  the 
best  toilet  he  could  beside  a  stream. 

"  I  have  removed  the  rock,  and  have  brought  the  tools 
back,"  he  said. 

"  How  much  did  the  explosives  cost  you  ? "  asked 
Helen,  and  Geoffrey  smiled. 

"  If  you  will  excuse  me,  is  not  that  beside  the  question? 
I  engaged  to  remove  the  boulder,  and  I  have  done  it,"  he 
answered. 

Ever  since  her  mother's  death,  Helen  Savine  had  ruled 
her  father  and  most  of  the  men  with  whom  she  came  in 
contact.  She  had  come  to  the  ranch  with  Mr.  Savine, 
who  was  interested  in  many  enterprises  in  the  neighbor- 
hood and  she  was  prepared  to  be  interested  in  whatever 
occurred.  Few  of  her  wishes  ever  had  been  thwarted,  so, 
naturally,  she  was  conscious  of  a  faint  displeasure  that 
a  disheveled  wanderer  should  even  respectfully  slight 
her  question.  Placing  two  silver  coins  on  the  table,  she 
said  coldly: 

"  Then  here  are  your  convenanted  wages,  and  we  are 
obliged  to  you." 

Geoffrey  handed  one  of  the  coins  back  with  a  slight  in- 
clination of  his  head.  "  Our  bargain  was  one  dollar, 
madam,  and  I  cannot  take  more.  Perhaps  you  have  for- 
gotten," he  replied. 

Helen  was  distinctly  annoyed  now.  The  color  grew  a 
little  warmer  in  her  cheek  and  her  eyes  brighter,  but  she 


30   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

uttered  only  a  "Thank  you/'  and  took  up  the  piece  of 
silver. 

Jean  Graham,  prompted  by  the  Westerner's  generous 
hospitality,  and  a  feeling  that  she  had  been  overlooked, 
spoke : 

"  You  have  earned  a  square  meal  any  way,  and  you're 
going  to  get  it,"  she  declared.  "Sit  right  down  there 
and  we'll  have  supper  when  the  boys  come  in." 

Uneasily  conscious  that  Helen  was  watching  him, 
Thurston  cast  a  swift  hungry  glance  at  the  food.  Then, 
remembering  his  frayed  and  tattered  garments  and  the 
hole  in  his  boot,  he  answered:  "I  thank  you,  but  as  I 
must  be  well  on  my  way  to-morrow  I  cannot  stay." 

"  Then  you'll  take  these  along,  and  eat  them  when  it 
suits  you,"  said  the  girl,  deftly  thrusting  a  plateful  of 
hot  cakes  upon  him.  Divided  between  gratitude  and  an- 
noyance, Geoffrey  stood  still,  stupidly  holding  out  the 
dainties  at  arm's  length,  while  flavored  syrup  dripped 
from  them.  It  was  equally  impossible  to  return  them 
without  flagrant  discourtesy  or  to  retire  with  any  dignity, 
finally,  he  moved  out  backwards  still  clutching  the  plate 
of  cakes,  and  when  he  had  disappeared  Helen  laughed 
softly,  while  Jean's  merriment  rang  out  in  rippling  tones. 

"  You  saved  the  situation,"  said  Helen.  "  It  was 
Teally  getting  embarrassing,  and  he  made  me  ashamed.  I 
ought  to  have  known  better  than  to  play  that  trick  with 
the  dollar,  but  the  poor  man  looked  as  if  he  needed  it. 
He  is  certainly  not  a  hobo,  and  I  could  wonder  who  he 
is,  but  that  it  does  not  matter,  as  we  shall  never  see  him 
again." 

Meanwhile,  Geoffrey  Thurston  walked  savagely  down  the 
trail.  He  fed  greatly  tempted  to  hurl  the  cakes  away, 
but,  on  second  thoughts,  ate  them  instead.  It  was  a 
trifling  decision,  but  it  led  to  important  results,  as  trifles 
often  do,  because,  if  he  had  not  satisfied  his  hunger,  he 
would  have  limped  back  through  the  settlement  towards 
the  railroad  and  probably  never  would  have  re-entered  the 


GEOFFREY'S    FIRST    CONTRACT         31 

valley.  As  it  was,  when  the  edge  of  his  hunger  was 
blunted  he  felt  drowsy,  and,  curling  himself  up  among 
the  roots  of  hemlock,  sank  into  slumber  under  the  open 
sky.  Early  next  morning  Bransome  stopped  him  on  the 
trail. 

"  I've  been  thinking  over  what  you  told  me  about  mak- 
ing a  rock  cutting  to  run  the  water  clear  of  my  meadows," 
said  the  rancher,  "  and  if  you're  still  keen  on  business 
I'm  open  to  talk  to  you." 

"Why  didn't  you  talk  yesterday  morning?"  inquired 
Thurston,  and  Bransome  answered  frankly :  "  Well,  just 
then  I  had  my  doubts  about  you ;  now  I  figure  that  if  you 
say  you  can  do  a  thing,  you  can.  Come  over  to  the 
ranch,  and,  if  we  can't  make  a  deal,  I'll  give  you  a  week's 
work,  any  way  " 

"  Thanks !  "  replied  Thurston.  "  I  should  be  glad  to? 
but  I  have  some  business  at  the  settlement  first.  Will 
you  advance  me  a  dollar,  on  account  of  wages,  so  that  I 
can  discharge  a  debt  to  the  storekeeper?" 

"  Why,  yes  I "  agreed  the  rancher.  "  But  didn't  yon 
get  a  dollar  from  Graham  yesterday?  Do  you  want 
two  ?  " 

"  Yes !  "  said  Thurston.  "  I  want  two,"  and  Bransome 
laughed. 

"  You're  in  a  greater  hurry  to  pay  your  debts  than 
other  folks  from  your  country  I've  met  over  here,"  he 
observed  with  a  smile.  "  But  come  on  to  the  ranch  and 
breakfast;  I'll  square  the  storekeeper  for  you." 

Thurston  accepted  the  chance  that  offered  him  a  sus- 
taining meal,  but  he  did  not  explain  that,  owing  to  some 
faint  trace  of  superstition  in  his  nature,  he  intended  to 
keep  Helen  Savinc  s  dollar.  It  was  the  first  coin  that  he 
had  earned  as  his  own  master,  in  the  Dominion,  and  he 
felt  that  the  successfully-executed  contract  marked  a  turn- 
ing point  in  his  career. 


CHAPTER    IV 

GEOFFREY    MAKES    PROGRESS 

Thurston  did  justice  to  his  breakfast  at  Bransome's 
ranch,  and  he  frankly  informed  his  host  that  he  had  found 
it  difficult  to  exist  on  two  handfuls  of  crackers  and  one 
of  hot  corn  cakes.  When  the  meal  was  finished  and  pipes 
were  lighted,  the  two  men  surveyed  each  other  with  mu- 
tual interest.  They  were  not  unlike  in  physique,  for  the 
Colonial,  was,  as  is  usual  with  his  kind,  lean  and  wiry. 
His  quick,  restless  movements  suggested  nervous  energy, 
but  when  advisable,  he  could  assume  the  bovine  stolidity 
which,  though  foreign  to  his  real  nature,  the  Canadian 
bushman  occasionally  adopts  for  diplomatic  purposes. 
Thurston,  however,  still  retained  certain  traits  of  the  In- 
sular Briton,  including  "a  curtness  of  speech  and  a  judi- 
cious reserve. 

"  That  blame  lake  backs  up  on  my  meadows  each  time 
the  creek  rises,"  Bransome  observed  at  length.  "  The 
snow  melts  fast  in  hay-time,  and,  more  often  than  I  like, 
a  freshet  harvests  my  timothy  grass  for  me.  Now  cut- 
ting down  three-hiind  red-foot  redwoods  is  good  as  exer- 
cise, but  it  gets  monotonous,  and  a  big  strip  of  natural 
prairie  would  be  considerably  more  useful  than  a  beaver's 
swimming  bath.  You  said  you  could  blow  a  channel 
through  the  rocks  that  hold  up  the  outlet,  didn't  you?" 

"1  can!"  Geoffrey  asserted  confidently.  "From  some 
knowledge  of  mining  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  a  series 
of  heavy  charges  fired  simultaneously  along  the  natural 
cleavage  would  reduce  the  lake's  level  at  least  a  fathom. 
I  Live  you  got  a  pencil  ?  " 

Here  it  was  that  the  national  idiosyncrasies  of  the  Tnen 
became   apparent,   for  Thurston,   leaning  on  one   elbow, 

32 


(GEOFFREY    MAKES    PROGRESS  33 

made  an  elaborate  sketch  and  many  calculations  with 
Bransome's  pencil.  A  humming-bird,  resplendent  in  gold 
and  purple,  blundered  in  between  the  roses  shrouding  the 
open  window,  and  hovered  for  a  moment  above  him  on 
invisible  wings.  Thurston  did  not  notice  the  bird,  but 
Bransome  flung  a  crust  at  it  as  he  smiled  on  his  com- 
panion. 

"  We'll  take  the  figures  for  granted.  Life  is  too  short 
to  worry  over  them,"  the  rancher  said.  "  Let's  get  down 
to  business.  How  much  are  you  asking,  no  cure  no  pay,  I 
finding  tools  and  material?  I  want  your  bottom  price 
straight  away." 

Thurston  had  never  done  business  in  so  summary  a 
fashion  before,  but  he  could  adapt  himself  to  circum- 
stances, and  he  mentioned  a  moderate  sum  forthwith. 

"  Can't  come  down  ? — then  it's  a  deal !  "  Bransome  an- 
nounced. "  Contract — this  is  the  Pacific  slope,  and  we've 
no  time  for  such  foolery.  I'm  figuring  that  I  can  trust 
you,  and  my  word's  good  enough  in  this  locality.  Eun 
that  pond  down  a  fathom  and  •  you'll  get  your  money. 
Any  particular  reason  why  you  shouldn't  start  in  to-day? 
Don't  know  of  any  ?  Then  put  that  pipe  in  your  pocket, 
and  we'll  strike  out  for  the  store  at  the  settlement  now." 

So  it  came  about  that  at  sunset  Geoffrey  was  deposited 
with  several  bags  of  provisions,  a  blanket,  and  a  litter  of 
tools,  outside  a  ruined  shack  on  the  edge  of  the  natural 
prairie  surrounding  Bransome's  lake.  He  had  elected  to 
live  beside  his  work. 

A  tall  forest  of  tremendous  growth  walled  the  lake,  and 
then  for  a  space  rotting  trees  and  willow  swale  showed 
where  the  intermittent  rise  of  waters  had  set  a  limit  to 
the  all-encroaching  bush.  The  wail  of  a  loon  rang  eerily 
out  of  the  shadow,  and  was  answered  by  the  howl  of  a 
distant  wolf.  A  thin  silver  crescent  sailed  clear  of  the 
fretted  minarets  of  towering  firs  clear  cut  against  a  pale 
pearl  of  the  sky. 

"  Carlton's  prairie,  we  call  it,"  said  Bransome,  leaning 


M        THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

against  his  light  wagon,  which  stood  near  the  deserted 
dwelling.  "  Land  which  isn't  all  rock  or  forest  is  mighty 
scarce,  and  Carlton  figured  he'd  done  great  things  when 
he  bought  this  place.  Five  years  he  tried  to  drain  it, 
working  night  and  day,  and  pouring  good  money  into  it, 
and  five  times  the  freshets  washed  out  his  crops  for  him. 
The  creek  just  laughed  at  his  ditches.  Then  when  he'd 
no  more  money  he  went  out  to  help  track-laying,  and  a 
big  tree  flattened  him.  The  boys  said  he  didn't  seem  very 
sorry.  This  prairie  had  broken  his  heart  for  him,  and 
Fve  heard  the  Siwash  say  he  still  comes  back  and  digs  at 
nights  when  the  moon  is  full." 

"  Carlton  made  a  mistake,"  said  Geoffrey,  who  had 
been  examining  the  surroundings  rather  than  listening  to 
the  tale.  "  He  began  in  what  looked  the  easiest  and  was 
the  hardest  way.  He  should  have  cut  the  mother  rock 
instead  of  trenching  the  forest."  When  Bransome  drove 
away  Thurston  rolled  himself  in  the  thick  brown  blanket, 
and  sank  into  slumber  under  the  lee  of  the  dead  man's 
dwelling,  through  which  a  maple  tree  had  grown  from  the 
inside,  wrenching  off  the  shingle  roof. 

An  owl  that  circled  about  the  crumbling  house,  stooped 
now  and  then  on  muffled  wing  to  inspect  the  sleeper. 
Once  a  stealthy  panther,  slipping  through  the  willows, 
bared  its  fangs  and  passed  the  other  way,  and  the  pale 
green  points  of  luminescence  that  twinkled  in  the  sur- 
rounding bush,  and  were  the  eyes  of  timber  wolves,  faded 
again.  Neither  did  the  deer  that  panther  and  wolves 
sought,  come  down  to  feed  on  the  swamp  that  night,  for 
a  man,  holding  dominion  over  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  lay 
slumbering  in  the  desolate  clearing. 

Geoffrey  began  work  early  next  day,  and  afterwards 
week  by  week  toiled  from  dawn  until  nearly  sunset,  blast- 
ing clear  minor  reefs  and  ledges  until  he  attacked  the 
mother  rock  under  the  lip  of  a  clashing  fall.  The  fee 
promised  was  by  no  means  large,  and,  because  current 
wages  prohibited  assistance,  he  did  all  the  work  himself. 


GEOFFREY    MAKES    PROGRESS  35 

So  he  shoveled  debris  and  drilled  holes  in  the  hard  blue 
grit;  and  drilling,  single-handed,  is  a  difficult  operation, 
damaging  to  the  knuckles  of  the  man  attempting  it.  He 
waded  waist-deep  in  water,  learned  to  carry  heavy  burdens 
on  his  shoulder,  and  found  his  interest  in  the  task  grow- 
ing upon  him.  He  felt  that  much  depended  upon  the 
successful  completion  of  his  contract.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, all  monotonous  labor,  and  there  were  compensations, 
for,  after  each  day's  toil  was  done,  he  lay  prone  on 
scented  pine  twigs,  and  heard  the  voices  of  the  bush  break 
softly  through  the  solemn  hush  as,  through  gradations  of 
fading  glories  along  the  lofty  snows,  night  closed  in. 
He  would  watch  the  black  bear  grubbing  hog-fashion 
among  the  tall  wild  cabbage,  while  the  little  butter  duck, 
paddling  before  its  brood,  set  divergent  lines  creeping 
across  the  steely  lake  until  the  shadows  of  the  whitened 
driftwood  broke  and  quivered. 

Sometimes  he  would  call  the  chipmunks,  which  scurried 
up  and  down  behind  him,  or  tap  on  a  rotten  log  until  a 
crested  woodpecker  cried  in  answer,  and  by  degrees  the 
spell  of  the  mountains  gained  upon  him,  until  he  forgot 
his  troubles  and  became  no  more  subject  to  fits  of  berserk 
rage.  He  was  growing  quiet  and  more  patient,  learning 
to  wait,  but  his  energy  and  determination  still  remained. 
But  he  was  not  wholly  cut  off  from  human  intercourse, 
for  at  times  some  of  the  scattered  ranchers  would  ride 
over  to  offer  impracticable  advice  or  to  predict  his  failure, 
and  Geoffrey  listened  quietly,  answering  that  in  time  it 
would  be  proved  which  was  right.  Sometimes,  he  tramped 
through  scented  shadow  to  Graham's  homestead  and  dis- 
cussed crops  and  cattle  with  the  rancher.  On  these  oc- 
casions, he  had  long  conversations  with  Helen  Savine, 
who,  finding  no  person  of  liberal  education  thereabouts, 
was  pleased  to  talk  to  him.  There  was  nothing  incon- 
gruous in  this,  for  petty  class  distinctions  vanish  in  the 
bush,  where,  when  his  daily  task  is  done,  the  hired  man 
meets  his  master  on  terms  of  equality. 


36   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

At  last  the  day  on  which  Thurston's  work  was  to  be 
practically  tested  arrived,  and  most  of  the  ranchers  drove 
over  to  witness  what  they  regarded  as  a  reckless  experi- 
ment. 

Jean  Graham  and  Helen  Savine  stood  a  little  apart 
from  the  rest  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  looking  down  on 
the  glancing  water  and  talking  with  the  experimenter. 
The  rich  wet  meadows  were  heavy  with  flag  and  blossom 
to  the  edge  of  the  driftwood  frieze,  and  the  splash  of 
rising  trout  alone  disturbed  the  reflection  of  the  mighty 
trunks  and  branches  crowning  a  promontory  on  the  farther 
side. 

"  It  is  very  beautiful,  and  now  you  are  going  to  spoil 
it  all,  Mr.  Bransome,"  said  Helen. 

The  rancher  glanced  at  her  with  admiration  in  his 
eyes.  Helen  was  worthy  of  inspection.  Her  thin  sum- 
mer dress,  with  the  cluster  of  crimson  roses  tucked  into 
the  waist  of  it,  brought  out  her  rich  beauty  which  be- 
tokened a  Latin  ancestry. 

"  Yes,  it's  mighty  pretty ;  a  picture  worth  looking  at — 
all  of  it,"  he  said,  and  there  was  a  faint  smile  on  Helen's 
lips  as  she  recognized  that  the  general  tribute  to  the  pic- 
turesque was  as  far  as  Bransome  dared  venture  in  the 
direction  of  a  compliment.  He  was  not  a  diffident  person, 
but  he  felt  a  wholesome  respect  for  Helen  Savine. 

"Mighty  pretty,  but  what's  the  good  of  it,  and  I'm 
not  farming  for  my  health,"  he  continued.  "  It's  just  a 
beautiful  wilderness,  and  what  has  a  man  brains  given 
him  for,  unless  it's  to  turn  the  wilderness  into  cheese  and 
butter.  It  has  broken  one  man's  heart,  and  my  thick- 
headed neighbors  said  a  swamp  it  would  remain  forever, 
but  a  stranger  with  ideas  came  along,  and  I  told  him, 
'Sai]  ahead.'" 

"  I  did  hear  you  told  him  not  to  be  a — perhaps  I  had 
better  say — a  simple  fool,"  Helen  answered  mischiev- 
ously ;  and  Bransome  coughed  before  he  made  reply. 

"  Mlaybe ! "    he    acknowledged.     "  I    didn't    know    him 


GEOFFREY    MAKES    PROGRESS  37 

then,  but  to-day  I'm  ready  to  back  that  man  to  put 
through  just  whatever  he  sets  his  mind  upon." 

As  Bransome  spoke,  the  subject  of  this  encomium  came 
up  from  the  little  gorge  by  the  lake  outlet,  and  it  struck 
Helen  S  a  vine  that  the  rock  worker  had  changed  to  ad- 
vantage since  she  first  saw  him.  His  keen  eyes,  which 
she  had  noticed  were  quick  to  flash  with  anger,  had  grown 
more  kindly  and  the  bronzed  face  was  more  reposeful. 
The  thin  jean  garments  and  great  knee  boots,  which  had 
no  longer  any  rents  in  them,  suited,  the  well-proportioned 
frame. 

"  I  was  disappointed  about  the  electric  firing  gear  or- 
dered, from  Vancouver,  but  I  think  the  coupled  time-fuses 
should  serve  almost  as  well,"  said  Thurston,  acknowledg- 
ing Helen's  presence  with  a  bow  that  was  significant. 
"  You  appear  interested,  Miss  Savine.  We  are  trusting 
to  the  shock  of  a  number  of  charges  fired  simultaneously, 
and  perhaps  you  had  better  retire  nearer  the  bush,  for  the 
blast  will  be  powerful.  I  should  like  your  good  wishes, 
since  you  are  in  a  measure  responsible  for  this  venture. 
You  will  remember  you  gave  me  my  first  commission." 

"  You  have  them !  "  said  Helen,  with  a  frank  sincerity, 
for  though  the  man  was  a  mere  enterprising  laborer,  she 
was  too  proud  to  assume  any  air  of  condescension.  She 
was  Helen  Savine,  and  considered  that  she  had  no  need 
to  maintain  her  dignity. 

Geoffrey  returned  a  conventional  answer,  and  there  was 
a  buzz  of  voices  as  he  and  Bransome  walked  back  together 
towards  the  gorge.  The  rancher  halted  discreetly  when  his 
companion,  taking  a  brand  from  a  fire  near  it,  clambered 
over  the  boulders.  Geoffrey  disappeared  among  the  rocks, 
and  the  voices  grew  louder  when  he  came  into  view  again 
walking  hurriedly. 

Several  trails  of  thin  blue  vapor  began  to  crawl  in  and 
out  among  the  rocks.  Bransome  joined  Thurston,  and 
both  men  broke  into  a  smart  trot.  They  were  heading 
for  the  bush  until  Geoffrey,  halting  near  it,  ran  back  at 


38   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

full  speed  towards  the  gorge.  All  who  watched  him  were 
astonished,  for  they  were  already  bracing  themselves  to 
face  the  heavy  shock. 

"  He's  mad — stark  mad !  "  roared  Graham.  "  Come 
back  for  your  life,  Bransome.  It's  smashed  into  small 
pieces  both  of  you  will  be,"  and  the  eyes  of  the  specta- 
tors grew  wide  as  they  watched  the  two  running 
figures,  for  the  rancher  also  had  turned,  and  the  lines  of 
vapor  were  creeping  with  ominous  swiftness  across  the 
face  of  the  stone. 

There  was  a  roar  as  the  behind  man  clutched  at  the 
other,  missed  him,  and  staggered  several  paces,  leaving  his 
hat  behind  him  before  he  took  up  the  chase  again.  Single 
cries  sharper  than  the  rest  rose  out  of  the  clamor,  "  Blown 
to  glory  both  of  them !  Two  sticks  of  giant  powder  in 
most  of  the  holes.  All  that's  left  of  the  Britisher  won't 
be  worth  picking  up  !  " 

The  two  men  disappeared  among  the  boulders  almost 
under  the  white  foam  of  the  fall,  and  for  a  brief  space 
there  was  heavy  silence  emphasized  by  the  song  of  hurry- 
ing water  and  the  drumming  of  a  blue-grouse  on  the  sum- 
mit of  a  fir.  Helen  Savine  fancied  she  could  hear  the 
ssembly  breathing  unevenly,  and  felt  a  pricking  among 
the  roots  of  her  hair,  while  she  struggled  with  an  impulse 
which  prompted  her  to  cry  aloud  or  in  any  wild  fashion  to 
break  the  torturing  suspense.  Jean  Graham,  whose  eyes 
were  wide  with  apprehension,  noted  that  her  face  was 
bloodless  to  the  lips.  Neither  had  as  yet  been  rudely  con- 
fronted with  tragedy,  and  both  felt  held  fast,  spellbound, 
without  the  power  to  move. 

"The  Lord  have  mercy  on  them,"  said  the  hoarse  voice 
of  a  man  somewhere  behind  the  girls. 

"nee  more  a  murmur  swelled  into  a  roar,  and  Jean, 
twining  her  brown  fingers  together,  cried,  "There! 
They're  coming.    They  may  be  in  time!" 

A  figure,  apparently  Bransome's,  Leaped  down  from  a 
boulder  close  in  front  of  one  that  climbed  over  the  stone, 


GEOFFREY    MAKES    PROGRESS  39 

and  there  followed  harsh,  breathless  cries  of  encourage- 
ment as  the  two  headed  at  mad  speed  for  the  sheltering 
forest,  the  rear  runner,  who  came  up  with  hands  clenched 
and  long  swinging  strides,  gaining  steadily  on  the  one  be- 
fore him.  They  were  near  enough  for  those  who  watched  to 
see  that  the  fear  of  sudden  death  was  stamped  upon  their 
perspiring  faces.  Then,  as  they  passed  a  spur  of  rock 
out-crop,  Thurston  leaped  upon  the  leader,  hurled  him 
forward  so  that  he  lost  his  balance  and  the  pair  went  down 
out  of  sight  among  the  rocks,  while  a  shaft  of  radiance 
pale  in  the  sunlight  blazed  aloft  beside  the  outlet  of  the 
lake.  Thick  yellow-tinted  vapor  followed  it,  and  hillside 
and  forest  rang  to  the  shock  of  a  stunning  detonation. 

The  smoke  curling  in  filmy  wreaths  spread  itself  across 
the  quaggy  meadows,  while  the  patter  of  falling  frag- 
ments filled  the  quivering  bush,  and  was  mingled  with  a, 
loud  splashing,  or  a  heavy  crash  as  some  piece  of  greater 
weight  drove  hurtling  through  the  trees  or  plunged  into 
the  lake.  Then  for  the  last  time  the  assembly  gave  voice, 
raising  a  tumultuous  cheer  of  relief  as  the  two  men  came 
forth  uninjured  out  of  the  eddying  smoke. 

Geoffrey,  shaking  the  dust  from  his  garments,  turned  to 
his  companion  with  a  somewhat  nervous  laugh : 

"  We  cut  it  rather  fine,"  he  said,  "  but  I  felt  reasonably 
sure  there  would  be  just  sufficient  time,  and  it  might  have 
spoiled  the  whole  blast  if  the  two  bad  fuses  had  failed  to 
fire  their  shots.  Of  course,  I'm  grateful  for  your  com- 
pany, but  as  it  was  my  particular  business  I  don't  quite 
see  why  you  turned  back  after  me." 

Bransome,  who  mopped  his  forehead,  stared  at  the 
speaker  with  some  wonder  and  more  admiration  before 
he  answered: 

"  There's  a  good  deal  of  cast  iron  about  you,  and  I  guess 
I'd  a  long  way  sooner  have  trusted  the  rest  than  have  gone 
back  to  stir  up  those  two  charges.  What  took  me? — well, 
I  figured  you  had  turned  suddenly  crazy,  and  1  was  in  a 
way  responsible  for  you.    Made  the  best  bargain  for  vour 


40   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

time  I  could,  but  I  didn't  buy  you  up  bones  and  body — 


see  ?  " 


"  I  think  I  do,"  answered  Geoffrey,  and  that  was  all, 
but  it  meant  the  recognition  of  a  bond  between  them. 
Bransome,  as  if  glad  to  change  the  subject,  asked: 

"  Say,  after  you  had  fired  the  fuse  what  did  you  waste 
precious  seconds  looking  for?  If  I  wasn't  too  scared  to 
notice  anything  clearly  I'd  swear  you  found  something 
and  picked  it  up." 

"  I  did  !  "  declared  Geoffrey,  smiling.  "  It  was  some- 
thing I  must  have  dropped  before.  Only  a  trifle,  but  I 
would  not  like  to  lose  it,  and — I  had  one  eye  on  the 
fuses — there  seemed  a  second  or  two  to  spare.  However, 
for  some  reason  my  throat  feels  all  stuck  together.  Have 
vou  any  cider  in  vour  wagon  ?  " 

Half-an-hour  later,  when  most  of  the  spectators  stood 
watching  the  released  waters  thunder  down  the  gorge,  for 
the  blast  had  been  successful,  Helen  Savine  said : 

"  I  don't  quite  understand  what  happened,  Mr.  Bran- 


some." 


"  It  was  this  way !  "  answered  the  rancher,  glad  to 
profit  by  any  opportunity  of  interesting  the  girl.  "That 
Thurston  is  a  hard,  tough  man.  Two  fuses  that  were  to 
fire  small  charges  petered  out,  and  sooner  than  risk  any- 
thing he  must  light  them  again.  I  don't  quite  understand 
all  the  rest  of  it,  either,  for  he's  not  a  mean  man,  and  why 
he  should  stay  fooling  on  top  of  a  powder  mine  looking 
for  one  dollar  when  I've  a  hatful  to  pay  him  is  away  be- 
yond me.  Yet  I'm  sure  he  picked  up  a  piece  of  silver  just 
before  we  ran.     Curious  kind  of  creature,  isn't  he?" 

Helen  thought  the  incident  distinctly  odd.  She  could 
not  comprehend  why  a  man  should  risk  his  life  for  the 
sake  of  a  silver  coin.  She  could  not  find  a  solution  of  the 
mystery  until  it  was  explained  that  evening. 

Geoffrey  Thurston,  attired  in  white  shirt,  black  sash, 
and  new  store  clothes,  had  tramped  over  to  Graham's 
ranch   and   by   degrees   he   and    Miss    Savine   gravitated 


GEOFFREY    MAKES    PROGRESS  41 

away  from  the  others.  They  were  interested  in  subjects 
that  did  not  appeal  to  the  rest,  and,  though  Jean  smiled 
mischievously  at  times,  this  excited  no  comment. 

Clear  moonlight  sparkled  upon  the  untrodden  snows 
above  them,  snows  that  had  remained  stainless  since  the 
giant  peaks  were  framed  when  the  world  was  young.  The 
pines  were  black  on  their  lower  slopes,  and  white  mists 
filled  the  valley,  out  of  which  the  song  of  the  river  rose  in 
long  reverberations.  Geoffrey  and  Helen  leaned  on  the 
veranda  balustrade,  both  silent,  for  the  solemnity  of  the 
mountains  impressed  them,  and  speech  seemed  superfluous. 

After  a  while,  the  girl  told  Geoffrey  that  he  ought  to  be 
glad  to  live  after  his  narrow  escape  from  death.  "  There 
was  really  no  great  risk,  and,  if  there  had  been,  the  results 
would  have  justified  it,"  Geoffrey  replied.  "  The  failure 
of  two  charges  might  have  spoiled  all  my  work  for  me. 
Since  I  left  you  the  Roads  and  Trails  Surveyor  volun- 
tarily offered  me  a  rock  work  contract  he  had  refused  be- 
fore, and  I  at  once  accepted  it.'*' 

"  You  have  not  been  used  to  this  laborious  life.  Have 
you  no  further  ambition,  and  do  you  like  it  ? "  asked 
Helen,  flashing  a  quick  glance  at  him. 

"  It  is  not  exactly  what  I  expected,  but  as  there  ap- 
pears to  be  no  great  demand  in  this  country  for  mental 
abilities,  one  is  glad  to  earn  a  living  as  one  can,"  he  said. 
"  I  am  afraid  I  am  a  somewhat  ambitious  person.  I  con- 
sider this  only  the  beginning,  and  ifiss  Savine  responsible 
for  it.  You  will  remember  who  it  was  offered  me  my  first 
contract." 

"  Don't !  "  commanded  Helen,  averting  her  eyes.  "  That 
is  hardly  fair  or  civil.  You  really  looked  so — and  how 
was  I  to  know  ?  " 

Geoffrey's  pulse  beat  faster,  and  the  smile  faded  out  of 
his  eyes  as  he  noticed,  for  the  moon  was  high,  the  trace  of 
faintly  heightened  color  in  the  speaker's  face. 

"  I  doubtless  looked  the  hungry,  worn-out  tramp  I  was," 
he  interposed  gravely.     "  And  out  of  gentle  compassion, 


42   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

you  offered  me  a  dollar.  Well,  I  earned  that  dollar,  and  I 
have  it  still.  It  has  brought  me  good  luck,  and  I  will  keep 
it  as  a  talisman." 

Instinctively  his  fingers  slid  to  one  end  of  a  thin  gold 
chain,  and  for  a  moment  a  look  of  consternation  came  into 
his  face,  for  the  links  hung  loose;  then  as  the  hard  hand 
dropped  to  his  pocket,  he  looked  relieved  and  Helen  found 
it  judicious  to  watch  a  gray  blur  of  shadow  moving  across 
the  snow.  She  had  sometimes  wondered  what  he  wore  at 
one  end  of  that  cross-pattern  chain,  for  rock  cutters  do 
not  usually  adorn  themselves  with  such  trinkets,  but,  re- 
membering Bransome's  comments,  she  now  understood 
what  had  happened  just  before  the  explosion.  Geoffrey's 
quick  eyes  had  noticed  something  unusual  in  her  air,  and 
his  old  reckless  spirit,  breaking  through  all  restraint, 
prompted  him  to  say: 

"  It  will,  I  fancy,  still  bring  me  good  fortune.  I  come 
of  a  superstitious  race,  and  nothing  would  tempt  me  to 
part  with  it.  This,  as  I  said,  is  only  the  beginning.  It 
appeared  impossible  to  move  the  boulder  from  your  wagon 
trail,  and  I  did  it.  The  neighbors  declared  nobody  could 
drain  Bransome's  prairie,  and  a  number  of  goodly  acres 
are  drying  now,  while  to-night  I  feel  it  may  be  possible 
to  go  on  and  on,  until " 


"  Does  not  that  sound  somewhat  egotistical  ? "  inter- 
posed Helen. 

"  Horribly,"  said  Thurston,  with  a  curious  smile.  "  But 
you  see  I  am  trusting  in  the  talisman,  and  some  day  I 
may  ask  you  to  admit  that  I  have  made  it  good.  I'm  not 
avaricious,  and  desire  money  only  as  means  to  an  end. 
Dollars !  If  all  goes  well,  the  contract  for  the  wagon  road 
rock  work  should  bring  me  in  a  good  many  of  them." 

"You  are  refreshingly  certain,"  averred  Helen.  "But 
will    the   end  or   dominant    purpose   justify    all   this?" 

Thurston  answered  quietly: 

"  I  may  ask  you  to  judge  that,  also,  some  day!  " 

Helen  was  conscious  of  a  chagrin  quite  unusual  to  her. 


GEOFFREY    MAKES    PROGRESS  43 

Hitherto,  she  had  experienced  little  difficulty  in  making 
the  men  she  knew  regret  anything  that  resembled  pre- 
sumption, but  with  this  man  it  was  different.  What  he 
meant  she  would  not  at  the  moment  ask  herself,  but, 
though  she  rather  admired  his  quietly  confident  tone,  it 
nettled  her,  and  yet,  without  begging  an  awkward  ques- 
tion she  could  not  resent  it.  Geoffrey's  reckless  frankness 
was  often  more  unassailable  than  wiser  men's  diplomacy — 
and  she  was  certainly  pleased  that  he  had  recovered  the 
dollar. 

'  The  dew  is  getting  heavy,  and  I  promised  Jean  some 
instruction  in  netting,"  she  told  him  rather  unsteadily. 
She  paused  a  second,  and,  with  an  assumed  carelessness, 
added,  "  isn't  it  useless  to  forecast  the  future  ?  " 


CHAPTER    V 

THE   LEGENDS    OF   CROSBIE  GHYLL 

Helen  Savine  had  passed  two  years  in  England,  and, 
because  her  father  was  a  prosperous  man  who  humored 
her  slightest  wishes,  she  occasionally  returned  to  take  her 
pleasure  in  what  she  called  the  Old  Country.  It  is  a  far 
cry  from  the  snowy  heights  of  the  Pacific  slope  to  the 
pleasant  valleys  of  the  North  Country,  but  in  these  days 
of  quadruple-expansion  engines,  distance  counts  but  little 
when  one  has  sufficient  money. 

The  Atlantic  express  had  brought  Helen  and  her  aunt 
by  marriage,  Mrs.  Thomas  P.  Savine,  into  Montreal, 
whence  a  fast  train  had  conveyed  them  to  New  York  in 
time  to  catch  a  big  Southampton  liner,  but  Mrs.  Savine 
was  a  restless  lady,  and  had  grown  tired  of  London  within 
six  weeks  from  the  day  she  left  Vancouver.  She  was  an 
American,  and  took  pains  to  impress  the  fact  upon  any- 
body who  mistook  her  for  a  Canadian,  and,  finding  a  party 
of  her  countrymen  and  women,  whom  she  had  hoped  to 
overtake  in  the  metropolis,  had  departed  northwards,  she 
determined  to  follow  them  to  the  English  lakes. 

"It's  a  big,  hot,  dusty  wilderness,  Tom,  and  we've  seen 
all  they've  got  to  show  us  here  before,"  she  said  to  her 
long-suffering  husband,  as  she  stood  in  the  vestibule  of  a 
fashionable  hotel.  "Say,  we'll  pull  out  to-day  and  catch 
the  Schrceders'  party  meditating  aronnd  Wordsworth's 
tomb.  Young  man,  will  you  kindly  get  us  a  railroad 
schedule?  " 

The  silver-buttoned  official,  who  watched  the  big  plate- 
glass  door,  started  at  a  smart  rap  on  his  shoulder,  and 
blinked  at  the  angular  lady  in  a  startling  costume  and  a 
blue  veil.    Thomas  Savine  interposed  meekly: 

44 


THE    LEGENDS    OF    CROSBIE    GHYLL     45 

"A  time-table;  and  that's  evidently  not  the  man  to 
ask,  my  dear." 

"  Then  he  can  tell  the  right  one,"  Mrs.  Savine  an- 
swered airily,  and  presently  halted  before  a  row  of  re- 
splendently-gilded  books  adorning  one  portion  of  the 
vestibule.  She  thereupon  explained  for  the  benefit  of  all 
listeners  that  it  was  hard  to  see  the  necessity  for  so  many 
railways  in  so  small  a  country,  and  finally,  with  a  clerk's 
assistance,  selected  a  train  which  would  deposit  her  at 
Oxenholme,  from  which  place  the  official  suggested  that 
she  might  find  means  of  transport  into  the  district  in 
which,  to  the  best  of  his  belief,  Coleridge  and  Wordsworth, 
or  one  of  them,  wrote  what  Mrs.  Savine  entitled  charming 
little  pieces.  It  proved  good  counsel,  and  two  of  the  party 
passed  a  delightful  week  at  Ambleside,  where  their  so- 
journ was  marred  only  by  Mrs.  Savine's  laments  that 
potatoes  were  not  served  at  supper  and  breakfast. 

"  I  want  some  potatoes  with  my  ham,"  she  said,  and 
when  the  attendant  explained  that  the  vegetables  were 
never  eaten  in  England  at  that  meal,  she  inquired,  "  Don't 
you  grow  potatoes  anywhere  in  this  country  ?  " 

The  attendant  said  that  very  fine  ones  were  produced 
in  the  immediate  vicinity,  and  Mj-s.  Savine  waved  a 
jeweled  hand  majestically. 

"  Then  away  you  go  and  buy  some.  I'll  sit  right  here 
until  they're  boiled,"  she  said. 

"  It  really  isn't  the  custom,  and  you  know  you  never 
got  them  in  London,  and  hardly  ate  them  at  home,"  said 
Thomas  Savine,  but  Mrs.  Savine  remained  superior  to 
such  reasoning. 

"  That's  quite  outside  the  question.  I  want  those 
potatoes,  and  I'm  going  to  have  them,"  she  insisted. 

There  was  a  whispering  at  the  end  of  the  breakfast 
hall,  somebody  whistled  up  a  tube,  and  the  hotel  manager 
appeared  to  announce,  with  regrets,  that  it  was  unfor- 
tunately impossible  in  the  busy  season  to  upset  the  culi- 
nary arrangements  for  the  benefit  of  a  single  guest. 


46   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  Then  we'll  start  again  and  follow  the  Schrceders' 
trail  to  that  place  in  Cumberland,"  Mrs.  Savine  decided. 
"  Tom,  you  go  out  and  buy  one  of  those  twenty  five  cent 
guide-books  which  tell  you  all  about  everything.  Hire 
some  ponies  and  a  man,  and  we'll  drive  a  straight  line 
across  the  mountains." 

•  The  manager  respectfully  suggested  it  would  be  better 
to  take  the  train,  even  though  the  railway  went  round, 
because  the  mountains  were  lofty,  and  the  roads  were  in- 
different in  the  region  traversed.  To  this  the  lady  an- 
swered with  some  truth  that  the  highest  peak  in  Britain 
was  a  pigmy  to  the  lowest  of  the  Selkirks,  and  that  she 
had  spent  two  summers  camping  among  the  fastnesses  of 
the  snow-clad  Olympians. 

"  Your  aunt  is  a  smart  woman,  but  she  can't  help  up- 
setting things,"  said  Thomas  Savine,  when  his  niece  went 
out  with  him  to  make  arrangements  for  the  trip.  Helen 
smiled  pleasantly,  for  she  knew  her  aunt's  good  qualities, 
and   also  she  was  fond  of  adventurous  wanderings. 

It  was  perfect  weather,  and  the  three  tourists  enjoyed 
their  journey  among  the  less  frequented  fells,  during 
which  they  camped,  so  Thomas  Savine  termed  it,  each 
night  in  some  high-perched  hostelry  or  trout-fisher's 
haunt.  Helen  realized  that  never  before  had  she  fully 
:i  ppreciated  the  beauty  of  England.  Quite  apart  from  its 
wonders  of  industrial  enterprise,  tide  of  world-wide  com- 
merce, and  treasury  of  literature  and  art,  the  old  country 
was  to  be  loved  for  its  quiet,  green  restfulness,  she 
thought. 

Suddenly  there  came  a  change.  A  south-wester  drove 
thick  rain-clouds  scudding  across  peak  and  valley,  and 
filled  the  passes  with  dank,  white  mists  from  the  Irish 
Sea,  and  so,  towards  the  close  of  a  threatening  day,  Mrs. 
Savine's  party  came  winding  down  in  a  hurry  from  a  hare 
hill  shoulder  and  under  the  gray  crags  of  Crosbie  Fell. 
The  hollows  beneath  them  were  lost  in  a  woolly  vapor,  low- 
flying  scud  raked  the  bare  ridges  above,  and  even  as  they 


THE    LEGENDS    OF    CROSBIE    GHYLL       47 

passed  a  black  rift  in  the  hillside  the  first  heavy  drops  of 
rain  fell  pattering.  Helen  Savine  had  seen  many  a  mi- 
ning adit  in  British  Columbia,  and,  turning  to  glance  at 
the  mouth  of  the  tunnel,  she  read,  scratched  on  the  rock 
beside  it,  "  Thurston's  Folly."  That  careless  glance  over 
her  shoulder  was  to  lead  to  important  results. 

"  There's  wild  weather  brewing,"  said  Thomas  Savine. 
"  Make  those  ponies  rustle,  and  we'll  get  in  somewhere 
before  it  comes  along." 

When  they  reached  the  little  wind-swept  village,  it 
became  evident  that  no  shelter  for  the  night  could  be 
found  there,  for  it  was  seldom  that  even  an  enterprising 
pedestrian  tourist  came  down  from  the  high  moors  behind 
Crosbie  Fell.  Still,  one  inhabitant  informed  their  guide, 
in  a  tongue  none  of  the  others  could  comprehend,  that  if 
he  was  in  an  unusually  good  humor  old  Musker,  the  keeper, 
might  take  them  in  at  Crosbie  Ghyll.  Thus  it  happened 
that  just  as  the  rain  began  in  earnest,  such  a  cavalcade 
as  had  probably  never  before  passed  its  gloomy  portals 
rode  up  to  the  gate  of  the  dilapidated  edifice.  Some  of 
the  iron-bound  barriers  still  lay  moldering  in  the  hollow 
of  the  arch,  and  Helen  noticed  slits  for  muskets  in  the 
stout  walls  above,  for  the  owners  had  been  a  fighting  race, 
and  several  times  in  bygone  centuries  the  tide  of  battle 
had  rolled  about  and  then  had  ebbed  away  from  the  stub- 
bornly-held stronghold.  The  observer  had  gathered  so 
much  from  a  paragraph  in  her  guide-book. 

The  romance  of  English  history  appealed  to  Helen  as 
it  does  to  the  citizens  of  the  wider  Britain  over  seas,  and 
she  turned  in  her  saddle  to  look  about  her.  Framed  by 
the  weather-worn  archway  she  could  see  the  black  rampart 
of  the  fells  fading  into  the  rain,  and  the  bare  sweep  of 
moss  and  moor,  which  had  once  stretched  unbroken  to  the 
feet  of  the  great  ranges  above  the  Solway  shore.  Inside 
the  quadrangle,  for  the  place  had  during  the  past  century 
served  as  farm  instead  of  hall,  barn,  cart-shed  and  ship- 
pon  were  ruinous  and  empty,  but  she  could  fill  the  space 


48   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

in  fancy  with  sturdy  archer,  man-at-arms,  and  corsleted 
rider,  for  that  the  present  venerable  edifice  had  been  built 
into  an  older  one  the  stump  of  a  square  tower  remained 
to  testify. 

Thomas  Savine  pounded  on  the  oaken  door  at  one  end 
of  the  courtyard  until  it  was  opened  by  a  bent-shouldered 
man  with  frosted  hair  and  wrinkled  visage. 

"  We  are  unfortunate  strangers  with  a  guide  who  has 
lost  his  way,  and  it  would  be  a  favor  if  you  could  take  us 
in  to-night  out  of  the  storm,"  he  said.  The  older  man 
glanced  at  the  party  suspiciously. 

"  If  you  ride  straight  on  across  the  moor  you'll  find  a 
road,  and  a  brand  new  hotel  in  twelve  miles,  where  you'll 
get  whatever  you  have  been  used  to,"  he  said.  "  I  once 
took  some  London  folks  in,  and  after  the  thanks  they  gave 
me  I  never  will  again." 

"  We're  not  Londoners,  only  forlorn  Canadians,"  ex- 
plained Thomas  Savine.  "Never  mind,  Matilda;  he'll 
find  out  that  you're  an  American  in  due  time.  We  have 
all  learned  to  rough  it  in  our  own  country,  and  would 
trouble  you  very  little." 

"  What  part  of  Canada  ?  "  asked  the  forbidding  figure 
in  the  doorway,  and  when  Savine  answered,  "  British  Co- 
lumbia," called  "Margery!"  A  little  weazened  woman, 
with  cheeks  still  ruddy  from  much  lashing  of  the  wind, 
appeared  in  the  portal. 

"  Strangers  from  British  Columbia !  Perhaps  they 
know  the  master,"  said  the  man,  and  there  was  a  whisper- 
ing until  the  woman  vanished,  saying,  "  I'll  ask  Miss 
Grade." 

She  returned  promptly,  and,  with  a  reserved  courtesy, 
bade  the  party  enter.  Then  she  sent  her  husband  and  the 
guide  to  stable  the  ponies,  and  fifteen  minutes  later  the 
travelers  reassembled  beside  the  deep-seated  window  of  a 
.great  stone-flagged  room,  darkly  wainscoted,  which  ap- 
parently once  had  been  the  hall,  and  was  now  kitchen. 


THE    LEGENDS    OF    CROSBIE    GHYLL     49 

There  were  a  spotless  cloth  and  neat  cutlery  on  the  table 
by  the  window;  trout  and  bacon,  hacked  from  the  sides 
hanging  beneath  the  smoke-blackened  beams,  frizzled  upon 
a  peat  fire;  and,  though  she  found  neither  wine  nor  pota- 
toes, Mts.  Savine  said  that  she  had  not  enjoyed  such  a 
meal  since  she  left  Vancouver. 

"  We  can't  give  you  a  sitting-room  to  yourselves,"  apol- 
ogized the  withered  dame  as  she  removed  the  cloth. 
"  What  furniture  there  is  above  is  covered  up,  and  it  will 
be  ill  finding  you  sleeping  quarters  even.  Nobody  lives 
here  beside  ourselves,  except  when  Mr.  Forsyth  comes 
down  for  a  few  weeks'  shooting.  His  wife  was  a  Thurs- 
ton, and  he  bought  the  old  place  to  please  her  sooner 
than  let  it  go  out  of  the  family." 

"  A  Thurston  !  "  said  Helen  Savine.  "  We  saw  '  Thurs- 
ton's Folly '  written  beside  a  mining  tunnel  on  the  fell. 
Was  that  one  of  the  former  owners?  Being  Colonials 
we  are  interested  in  all  ancient  buildings  and  their  tra- 
ditions." 

"  Oh,  yes !  "  broke  in  Mrs.  Savine.  "  We  just  love  to 
hear  about  wicked  barons  and  witches  and  all  those  quaint 
folk  of  the  olden  time." 

Musker  had  drawn  nearer  meanwhile,  and  Thomas 
Savine  held  out  the  cigar  case  that  lay  upon  his  knee. 
"  If  we  may  smoke  in  the  great  hearth  there,  just  help 
yourself,"  said  he.  "  My  wife  is  fond  of  antiquities,  and 
if  you  have  any  to  talk  of,  we  should  be  glad  of  your 
company." 

Musker  glanced  keenly  at  his  guests.  Though,  having 
lived  elsewhere,  he  spoke  easy  colloquial  English,  he  was 
a  son  of  the  North  Country  dogged  and  slow,  intensely 
self-respecting,  and,  while  loyal  with  feudal  fealty  to  su- 
periors he  knew,  quick  to  resent  a  stranger's  assumption 
of  authority.  Thomas  Savine,  brown-faced,  vigorous,  a 
pleasant  Colonial  gentleman,  smiled  upon  him  good- 
naturedly,  and  Musker  took  a  cigar  awkwardly.    Mrs.  Sa- 


50        THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

vine  surveyed  the  great  bare  hall  with  respectful  curiosity 
and  evident  interest,  while  Helen,  visibly  interested, 
leaned  back  in  her  chair. 

"Maybe  you  met  the  master  in  British  Columbia?" 
Musker  hazarded  with  an  eager  look  in  his  dim  eyes. 

"What  is  his  full  name,  and  what  is  he  like?"  asked 
Helen,  bending  forward  a  little.  The  old  woman,  reach- 
ing over,  lifted  a  faded  photograph  from  the  window 
Beat. 

"  Geoffrey  Thurston !  "  she  answered.  "  That  was  him 
when  he  was  young.     My  husband  yonder  broke  the  pony 


m." 


Helen  started  as  she  gazed  at  the  picture  of  the  boy 
and  the  pony.  The  face  was  like,  and  yet  unlike,  that  of 
the  gaunt  and  hungry  man  whom  she  had  first  seen  sit- 
ting upon  the  fallen  fir.  "  Yes,"  she  answered  gravely ; 
"  I  know  him.  I  met  Mr.  Thurston  in  British  Colum- 
bia." 

'  We  would  take  it  very  kindly  if  you  would  tell  us  how 
and  where  you  found  him,  miss,"  said  Musker  in  haste. 

"  I  found  him  in  a  great  Canadian  forest.  He  was  look- 
ing very  worn  and  tired,"  Helen  answered,  with  a  trace  of 
color  in  her  face.  "  I — I  hired  him  to  do  some  work  for 
me,  and  it  was  hard  work — much  harder  than  I  fancied 
— but  he  did  it,  and,  as  we  afterwards  discovered,  spent 
all  I  paid  him  on  the  powder  he  found  was  necessary." 

"Ay,"  said  the  old  man.  "That  was  Mr.  Geoffrey. 
They  were  all  hard  and  ill  to  beat,  the  Thurstons  of 
Crosbie.  And  you'll  kindly  tell  us,  miss,  you  saw  him 
again  ? " 

"  Yes,"  repeated  Helen,  "  I  saw  him  again.  By  good 
fortune  the  work  he  did  for  me  procured  him  a  contract 
he  carried  out  daringly,  and  when  I  last  saw  him  he  was 
no  longer  hungry  or  ragged,  but,  I  fancy,  on  the  way  to 
win  success  as  an  engineer." 

Musker  straightened  his  bent  shoulders  and  smiled  a 
slow,  almost  reluctant  smile  of  pride,  while  his  wife's  eyes 


THE    LEGENDS    OF   CROSBIE    GHYLL     51 

were  grateful  as  she  fixed  them  on  the  speaker.  "  Ay ! 
What  Mr.  Geoffrey  sets  his  heart  on  he'll  win  or  ruin 
himself  over.  It  was  the  way  of  all  of  them;  and  this  is 
gradely  news,"  he  told  her. 

"  Now,"  said  Helen,  nodding  towards  him  graciously, 
"  we  don't  wish  to  be  unduly  inquisitive,  but — if  you  may 
tell  us — why  did  Mr.  Thurston  emigrate  to  Canada  ?  " 

Musker  was  evidently  tempted  to  embark  upon  a  fa- 
vorite topic,  and  his  wife  went  out  hurriedly.  But  he 
hesitated,  sitting  silent  for  a  minute  or  two.  Savine, 
rising  under  the  arch  of  the  great  hearth,  flung  his  cigar 
into  the  fire,  as  a  young  woman,  wearing  what  Helen 
noticed  was  a  decidedly  antiquated  riding  habit,  came 
forward  out  of  the  shadows. 

"  I  hope  we  are  not  intruding  here,"  said  the  Canadian. 
"  We  were  tired  out  before  the  rain  came  down,  and  al- 
most afraid  to  cross  the  moor." 

"  You  are  very  welcome,"  said  the  stranger.  "  I  am 
not,  however,  mistress,  only  a  relative  of  the  old  place's 
owner,  and,  therefore,  a  kinswoman  of  Geoffrey  Thurston. 
I  heard  that  you  had  shown  him  a  passing  kindness,  and 
should  like  to  thank  you." 

There  was  no  apparent  reason  why  the  two  young 
women  should  scrutinize  each  other,  and  yet  both  did  so 
by  the  fading  daylight  and  red  blaze  of  the  fire.  Helen 
saw  that  the  stranger  was  ruddy  and  blonde — frank  by 
nature  and  impulsive,  she  imagined.  The  stranger  noted 
only  that  the  Colonial  was  pale  and  dark  and  comely, 
with  a  slightly  imperious  presence,  and  a  face  that  it  was 
not  easy  to  read. 

"  I  am  Marian  Thwaite  of  Barrow  Hall,  and  regret  I 
cannot  stay  any  longer,  having  three  miles  to  ride  in  the 
rain,"  she  said.  "Still,  I  may  return  to-morrow  before 
you  set  out.  Mrs.  Forsyth  will  be  pleased  if  she  hears 
you  have  made  these  Canadian  strangers  comfortable, 
Musker,  and  I  think  you  may  tell  them  why  Mr.  Geoffrey 
left  England.    May  I  ask  your  names  ?  " 


52        THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

Helen  told  her,  and  after  Miss  Thwaite  departed, 
Musker  began  the  story  of  Thurston's  Folly.  It  had 
grown  quite  dark.  Driving  rain  lashed  the  windows. 
The  ancient  building  was  filled  with  strange  rumblings 
and  the  wailing  of  the  blast  when  the  old  man  concluded : 
'  Mr.  Geoffrey  was  too  proud  to  turn  a  swindler,  and 
that  was  why  he  shook  off  his  sweetheart,  who  tried  to 
persuade  him,  though  he  knew  old  Anthony  Thurston 
would  have  left  him  his  money,  if  they  married." 

"Some  said  it  was  the  opposite,"  interposed  his  wife; 
but  Musker  answered  angrily,  "  Then  they  didn't  tell  it 
right.  ]\To  woman  born  could  twist  Geoffrey  Thurston 
from  his  path,  and  when  she  gave  him  bad  counsel  he 
turned  his  back  on  her.  A  fool  these  dolts  called  him. 
He  was  a  leal,  hard  man,  and  what  was  a  light  woman's 
greediness  to  him  ?  " 

"  And  what  became  of  the  lady  ?  "  asked  Helen,  with  a 
curious  flash  in  her  eyes. 

"She  married  a  London  man,  who  came  here  shooting, 
married  him  out  of  spite,  and  has  rued  it  many  times 
if  the  tales  are  true.  She  was  down  with  him  fishing, 
looking  sour   and  pale,   and  the  Hall   maids  were  say- 

'55 

mg 

"Just  gossip  and  lies ! "  broke  in  his  spouse;  and  Helen, 
who  apparently  had  lapsed  into  a  disdainful  indifference, 
asked  no  further  questions.  Mrs.  Savine,  however,  made 
many  inquiries,  and  Musker,  who  became  unusually  com- 
municative, presently  offered  to  show  the  strangers  what 
he  called  the  armory. 

They  followed  him  down  a  draughty  corridor  to  the 
black-wainscoted  gun-room  at  the  base  of  the  crumbling 
tower,  and  when  he  had  lighted  a  lamp  its  glow  revealed 
a  modern  collection  of  costly  guns.  There  were  also  trout- 
rod-  hung  upon  the  wall,  and  a  few  good  sporting  etch- 
ings, at  all  of  which  Musker  glanced  somewhat  con- 
temptuously. "These  are  Mr.  Forsyth's,  and  T  take  care 
of  them,  but  he  only  belongs  to  the  place  by  purchase  and 


THE    LEGENDS    OF    CROSBIE    GHYLL     53 

marriage.  Those  belonged  to  the  Thurstons — the  old, 
dead  Thurstons — and  they  hunted  men,"  he  said. 

He  ran  the  lamp  up  higher  by  a  tarnished  brass  chain, 
and  pointed  first  to  a  big  moldering  bow.  "  A  Thurs- 
ton drew  that  in  France  long  ago,  and  it  has  splitted  many 
an  Annandale  cattle  thief  in  the  Solway  mosses  since.  Red 
Geoffrey  carried  this  long  spear,  and,  so  the  story  goes, 
won  his  wife  with  it,  and  brought  her  home  on  the  crup- 
per from  beside  the  Nith.  She  pined  away  and  died  just 
above  where  we  stand  now  in  this  very  tower.  That  was 
another  Geoffrey's  sword;  they  hanged  him  high  outside 
Lancaster  jail.  He  was  for  Prince  Charlie,  and  cut  down 
single-handed  two  of  King  George's  dragoons  carrying  a 
warrant  for  a  friend's  arrest  when  the  Prince's  cause  was 
lost.  His  wife,  she  poisoned  herself.  Those  are  the  spurs 
Mad  Harry  rode  Hellfire  on  a  wager  down  Crosbie  Ghyll 
with,  and  broke  his  neck  doing  it,  besides  his  young  wife's 
heart.  The  women  who  married  the  Thurstons  had  an  ill 
lot  to  grapple  with.  Even  when  they  settled  down  to 
farming,  the  Thurstons  were  men  who  would  walk  un- 
flinchingly into  ruin  sooner  than  lose  their  grip  on  their 
purpose,  and  Mr.  Geoffrey  favors  them." 

"  They  must  have  been  just  lovely,"  sighed  Mrs.  Savine. 
"  Say,  I've  taken  a  fancy  to  some  of  those  old  things.  That 
rusty  iron  lamp  can't  be  much  use  to  anybody,  but  it's 
quaint,  and  I'd  give  it's  weight  in  dollars  for  it.  Can't 
you  tell  me  where  Mr.  Forsyth  lives  ?  " 

Musker  stared  at  her  horrified,  Thomas  Savine  laughed, 
and  even  Helen,  who  had  appeared  unusually  thoughtful, 
smiled.    Musker  answered : 

"  No  money  could  buy  one  of  them  out  of  the  family, 
and  if  any  but  a  Thurston  moves  that  lamp  from  where  it 
hangs  the  dead  men  rise  and  come  for  it  when  midnight 
strikes.  It  is  falling  to  pieces,  but  once  when  they  took  it 
to  Kendal. to  be  mended,  the  smith  sent  a  man  back  with 
it  on  horseback  before  the  day  had  broken." 

There  was  a  few  moments'  silence  when  Musker  con- 


54   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

eluded,  and  the  ancient  weapons  glinted  strangely  as  the 
lamp's  flame  wavered  in  the  chilling  draughts.  A  gale 
from  the  Irish  Sea  boomed  about  the  crumbling  tower, 
and  all  the  lonely  mosses  seemed  to  swell  it  with  their 
moaning.  Helen  shivered  as  she  listened,  for  those  clamor- 
ous voices  of  wind  and  rain  carried  her  back  in  fancy  to 
the  old  unhappy  days  of  bloodshed  and  foray.  The  as- 
sociations of  the  place  oppressed  her.  She  had  acquired  a 
horror  of  those  grim  dead  men  whose  mementos  hung 
above  her,  and  whose  spirits  might  well  wander  on  such  a 
night  vainly  seeking  rest.  Even  Mrs.  Savine  became  sub- 
dued, and  her  husband  said : 

"  We  can't  tell  tales  like  these  in  our  country,  and  I'm 
thankful  we  can't.  Still,  I  daresay  it  was  such  men  as 
these  who  bred  in  us  the  grit  to  chase  the  whales  in  the 
Arctic,  build  our  railroads  through  the  snow-barred  passes, 
and  master  the  primeval  forest.  Now  we'll  try  to  forget 
them,  and  go  back  out  of  this  creepy  place  to  the  fire 
again." 

An  hour  later  Mrs.  Musker  escorted  Helen  to  her  quar- 
ters. A  bright  fire  glowed  in  the  rusty  grate,  and  two 
candles  burned  on  the  dressing-table.  "  It's  Mrs.  For- 
syth's own  room,  and  the  best  in  the  house,"  the  old  care- 
taker assured  the  girl.  "  Musker  has  been  telling  you 
about  the  old  Thurstons.  He's  main  proud  of  them,  but  you 
needn't  fear  them — it's  long  since  the  last  one  walked. 
You  have  a  kind  heart,  and  nothing  evil  dare  hurt  you. 
See!  I've  tried  to  make  you  comfortable.  You  were  kind 
to  the  old  place's  real  master — many  a  time  I've  nursed 
him — God  bless  you!  " 

Helen  was  not  in  the  least  afraid  of  the  dead  Thurs- 
tons. She  was  filled  with  the  common-sense  courage 
which  characterizes  the  inhabitants  of  her  new  country, 
but  she  had  been  affected  by  the  stories,  and  she  sat  for  a 
time  with  her  feet  on  the  hearth  irons,  gazing  thoughtfully 
into  the  blaze.  She  had  met  a  modern  Thurston,  and 
found  the  instincts  of   his   forbears   strong  within  him. 


THE    LEGENDS    OF    CROSBIE    GHYLL     55 

She  considered  that  strength,  courage,  and  resolution  well 
became  a  man,  but  that  gentleness  and  chivalrous  respect 
for  women  were  desirable  attributes,  too.  The  Thurstons, 
however,  had  taken  to  bloodshed  as  a  pastime,  and  broken 
most  of  their  wives'  hearts  until  it  seemed  that  they  had 
brought  a  curse  upon  their  race.  She  suspected  there  was 
a  measure  of  their  brutality  in  the  one  she  knew.  Ee- 
membering  something  Geoffrey  once  had  said,  her  face 
grew  flushed  and  she  clenched  a  little  hand  with  an  angry 
gesture,  saying,  "  No  man  shall  ever  make  a  slave  of  me, 
and  my  husband,  if  I  have  one,  must  be  my  servant  before 
he  is  my  master." 

Thereupon  she  dismissed  the  subject,  tried  to  blot  the 
stories  from  her  memory,  and  presently  buried  her  ears  in 
the  pillow  to  shut  out  the  clamor  of  the  storm.  After  a 
sound  night's  slumber,  and  an  interview  with  Miss 
Thwaite  she  resumed  her  journey  next  morning. 

Musker  stood  in  the  gate  to  watch  the  party  ride  away, 
and  glancing  at  the  coins  in  his  hand  said  to  Margery,  "  I 
wish  they'd  come  often.  Main  interested  in  my  stories 
they  were  all  of  them,  and  it's  double  what  any  of  the 
shooting  folks  ever  gave  me.  This  one  came  from  the 
young  lady,  and  there's  a  way  about  her  that  puzzles  me 
after  seeing  her." 


CHAPTER   TI 
millicent's  kewaed 

The  late  Autumn  evening  was  closing  in.  Millicent 
Leslie  stood  out  on  the  terrace  of  the  old  North  Country 
hall,  where,  the  year  before,  she  had  first  met  her  hus- 
band. A  pale  moon  had  climbed  above  the  high  black 
ridge  of  moor,  which  shut  in  one  end  of  the  valley,  and 
the  big  beech  wood  that  rolled  down  the  lower  hillside 
had  faded  to  a  shadowy  blur,  but  she  could  still  see  the 
dim,  white  road  running  straight  between  the  hedgerows, 
and  could  catch  the  faint  gleam  of  a  winding  river.  Twi- 
light and  night  were  meeting  and  melting  into  each  other, 
the  dew  lay  heavy  upon  the  last  of  the  dahlias  beneath 
the  terrace  wall,  and  there  was  a  chill  of  frost  in  the  air. 
It  was  very  still,  though  now  and  then  the  harsh  call  of  a 
pheasant  came  up  faintly  through  the  murmur  of  the 
river  from  the  depths  of  the  wood.  Millicent  could  hear 
no  other  sound,  though  she  strained  her  ears  to  listen  and 
it  seemed  to  her  that  the  rattle  of  wheels  should  carry  far 
down  the  silent  valley. 

She  was  waiting  somewhat  anxiously  for  the  return  of 
her  husband,  who  had  s?t  off  that  morning  with  three  or 
four  other  men  to  walk  certain  distant  stubble  and  turnip 
fields  for  partridges.  They  had  passed  a  week  at  the  hall, 
for,  although  Millicent  would  have  preferred  to  avoid 
that  particular  place,  Leslie  had  said  he  did  not  know 
of  any  other  place  where  one  could  obtain  rough  shooting, 
as  well  as  a  more  or  less  congenial  company,  in  return 
for  what  was  little  more  than  a  first-class  hotel  bill.  He 
had  also  added  that  he  needed  a  holiday,  in  which  Milli- 
cent had  agreed  with  him.  There  was  no  doubt  that  he 
had  looked  jaded  and  harassed. 

N 


MILLICENT'S    REWARD  57 

Millieent  knew  little  about  her  husband's  business,  ex- 
cept that  it  was  connected  with  stocks  and  shares,  and  the 
flotation  of  companies;  but  she  was  quite  aware  that  he* 
had  met  with  a  serious  reverse  soon  after  he  married  her, 
since  it  had  been  necessary  for  them  to  give  up  their  town 
house  and  install  themselves  temporarily  in  a  London  flat. 
Leslie  had  informed  her  that  reverses  were  not  uncommon 
in  his  profession,  and  he  had  appeared  quite  convinced  of 
his  ability  to  recover  his  losses  in  a  new  venture  which 
had  something  to  do  with  South  African  gold  or  dia- 
monds. Of  late,  however,  he  had  grown  dejected  and 
moody.  On  the  previous  evening  she  had  seen  his  face 
set  hard,  as  he  read  a  letter  which  bore  the  London  post- 
mark. He  had  not  given  her  any  information  about  the 
contents  of  the  letter,  for  there  had  been  no  great  meas- 
ure of  confidence  between  them;  but  there  were  one  or 
two  telegrams  for  him  among  those  a  groom  had  brought 
over  from  the  nearest  station  during  the  day,  and  she  felt 
a  little  uneasy  as  she  thought  of  them. 

By  and  by,  with  a  little  shiver  and  a  suppressed  sigh,, 
she  glanced  up  at  the  highest  part  of  the  climbing  wood- 
It  was  there  she  had  had  her  last  memorable  interview 
with  Geoffrey,  almost  a  year  ago.  Though  she  had  not 
cared  to  face  the  fact,  she  was  troubled  by  a  suspicion 
that  she  had  made  an  unwise  choice  then.  Leslie  had 
changed  since  their  marriage.  He  was  harsh  at  times,  and 
though  he  had,  even  in  their  more  humble  quarters,  sur- 
rounded her  with  a  certain  amount  of  luxury,  there  was  a 
laxity  in  his  manners  and  conversation  that  jarred  upon  her. 
Geoffrey,  she  remembered,  had  not  been  addicted  to  min- 
cing words,  but,  at  least,  be  had  lived  in  accordance  with 
a  Spartan  moral  code.  Millieent  was  not  a  scrupulous 
woman,  and  her  ideas  of  ethical  justice  were  rudimentary, 
but  she  possessed  in  place  of  a  conscience  a  del  irate  sense 
of  refinement  which  her  husband  frequently  offended. 

Feeling  chilly  at  length,  and  seeing  no  sign  of  the 
shooter's  return,  Millieent  went  back  into  the  house.    Slifi 


58       THURSTON    OF    ORCH  .4RD    VALLEY 

stopped  when  she  reached  the  square  entrance  hall  which 
served  the  purpose  of  a  lounging-room.  The  hall  had 
been  rudely  ceiled  and  paneled  at  a  time  when  skilled 
"craftsmen  were  scarce  in  the  North  Country,  and  in  the 
•daylight  it  was  more  or  less  dim  and  forbidding,  but  with 
the  lamps  lighted  and  a  fire  blazing  in  the  wide,  old- 
fashioned  hearth,  the  place  looked  invitingly  comfortable. 
When  she  entered,  Millicent  was  not  altogether  pleased  to 
see  another  woman  there.  Marian  Thwaite,  whom  she- 
knew  but  had  not  expected  to  meet,  lay  in  a  big  chair  near 
the  fire.  The  glow  of  health  whicli  the  keen  air  of  the 
moors  had  brought  there  was  in  her  face.  She  wore 
heavy  boots  and  severely  simple  walking  attire.  Her 
features  suggested  a  decided  character,  and  she  had  un- 
wavering blue  eyes. 

"  Mrs.  Boone  won't  be  down  for  some  minutes,  and 
I  believe  the  rest  are  dressing,"  Marian  said.  "  I  haven't 
seen  you  since  your  marriage,  and  to  tell  the  truth,  you're 
not  looking  by  any  means  as  fresh  as  you  did  before 
you  left  us.  I  suppose  it's  one  effect  of  living  in  Lon- 
don ?  " 

She  studied  Millicent  with  a  steady  contemplative  gaze, 
and  there  was  no  doubt  that  her  comment  was  justified. 
Millicent's  face  was  pallid,  there  was  a  certain  weariness 
in  her  eyes,  and  on  the  whole,  her  expression  was  lan- 
guidly querulous. 

"  I  didn't  know  you  were  coming  to-night,"  said  Milli- 
-cent,  as  she  sank  into  a  chair. 

"  I  didn't  know  it  myself,"  Marian  explained.  "  I  was 
out  on  the  fells,  and  I  met  Boone  as  I  came  down  this 
way.  He  said  somebody  would  drive  me  home,  if  I'd 
stay.  You  have  been  here  a  week,  haven't  you?  How  is 
it  you  haven't  come  over  to  see  us  yet  ?  " 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  didn't  intend  to  call,  and  it 
was  rather  against  my  wishes  that  we  came  up  here,"  said 
Millicent  with  the  candor  of  an  old  acquaintance.  "  You 
were  not  very  cordial  when  I  last  saw  you,  and  I  can't 


MILLICENT'S   REWARD  59 

help  a  feeling  that  you  are  all  of  you  prejudiced  against 


me." 


Quite  unembarrassed  Marian  looked  at  her  with  a  re- 
flective air.  "  Yes,"  she  admitted,  "  to  some  extent  that's 
true.  We're  closely  connected  with  the  Thurstons,  and 
I've  no  doubt  we  make  rather  intolerant  partisans.  After 
all,  it's  only  natural  that  we  sympathize  with  Geoffrey. 
Besides — you  can  make  what  you  like  of  it — he  was  al- 
ways a  favorite  of  mine.  I  suppose  you  haven't  heard 
from  him  since  he  went  to  Canada  ?  " 

"  Would  you  have  expected  him  to  write  ?  " 

Marian  smiled.  "  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  unrea- 
sonable, but  taking  it  for  granted  that  he  hasn't  been 
communicative,  I've  a  piece  of  news  for  you.  Some  Cana- 
dian tourists  stayed  a  night  at  the  Ghyll,  two  or  three 
months  ago,  and  it  seems  they  met  him  in  British  Colum- 
bia. I  understand  he  is  by  no  means  prosperous,  but  at 
least  getting  a  footing  in  the  country,  and  the  people  ap- 
parently have  rather  a  high  opinion  of  him.  Did  I  men- 
tion that  one  of  the  party  was  a  girl  ?  " 

She  saw  the  quickened  interest  in  Millicent's  eyes. 
With  assumed  indifference  in  her  voice  Millicent  asked : 
"  What  kind  of  people  were  they  ?  " 

"  The  girl  was  handsome — well-finished,  too.  In  fact, 
she  struck  me  as  rather  an  imperious  young  person  of 
some  consequence  in  the  place  she  came  from.  She  would 
pass  in  any  circle  that  you  or  I  are  likely  to  get  an  entry 
to.  I  don't  know  whether  it's  significant,  but  I  under- 
stand from  Margery  that  she  took  some  interest  in  Mus-" 
ker's  stories  of  the  Thurstons." 

There  was  nothing  to  show  whether  Millicent  was 
pleased  with  this  or  not.  She  did  not  speak  for  a  mo- 
ment or  two. 

"Did  they  mention  what  Geoffrey  had  been  doing?" 
she  inquired  presently. 

"  Chopping  down  trees  for  sawmills,  or  something  of 
the  kind.     The  man   said  Geoffrey  had  evidently  been 


60        THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

-what  they  call  '  up  against  it '  until  lately  when  he  seems 
to  have  got  upon  his  feet.  It  will  probably  convince  you 
that  you  were  perfectly  right  in  not  marrying  him." 

This  time  Millicent  laughed.  "  It  wouldn't  have 
counted  for  much  with  you  ?  " 

Marian  looked  at  her  with  unwavering  eyes.  "  No," 
she  replied,  "  if  I'd  had  any  particular  tenderness  for 
Geoffrey  it  certainly  wouldn't  have  had  the  least  effect 
beyond  making  me  more  sorry  for  him,  but,  as  it  hap- 
pens, he  never  did  anything  to  encourage  vain  ideas  of 
the  kind  in  me."  She  changed  the  subject  with  the  ab- 
ruptness which  usually  characterized  her.  "  I  suppose 
you  haven't  seen  old  Anthony  Thurston  since  you  mar- 
ried Leslie  ?    He,  at  least,  is  openly  bitter  against  you." 

"I  haven't.  In  a  way,  I  suppose  he  is  right.  Of 
course,  he  would  take  the  stereotyped  view  that  it  was  all 
my  fault — that  is  to  say,  that  I  had  discarded  Geoffrey  ?  ': 

"  I  believe  he  did,  but  it  struck  me  once  or  twice  that 
Geoffrey  proclaimed  that  view  a  little  too  loudly.  Of 
course,  with  his  rather  primitive  notions  of  delicacy  and 
what  is  due  to  us,  it's  very  much  what  one  would  have  an- 
ticipated in  his  case.  He  naturally  wouldn't  want  to  leave 
room  for  any  suspicion  that  he — wasn't  altogether  satis- 
fied with  you." 

Millicent's  face  clouded.  "That  is  a  point  which  con- 
cerns nobody  except  Geoffrey  and  myself,"  she  declared. 

"  And  Anthony  Thurston,"  Marian  broke  in.  "  Of 
course,  it's  an  open  secret  that  if  you  had  married 
Geoffrey  you  would  both  have  benefited  by  his  will.  As 
things  have  turned  out,  my  own  opinion  is  that  the  ques- 
tion whether  either  of  you  ever  gets  a  penny  of  the  prop- 
erty depends  a  great  deal  on  the  view  he  continues  to  take 
of  the  matter.  Any  way,  that's  not  the  least  concern  of 
mine,  except  that  I'm  sorry  for  Geoffrey.  I  wonder  if  I'm 
going  too  far  in  asking  what  it  was  you  and  he  actually 
split  upon.  I'm  referring  to  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
trouble." 


MILLICENT'S   REWARD  61 

"I  can  tell  you  that,"  Millicent  answered  quickly,  for 
she  was  glad  to  remove  the  ground  for  one  suspicion, 
which  was  evidently  in  Marian's  mind.  "  Geoffrey  in- 
sisted on  giving  up  the  mine  when  he  could  have  sold  it, 
and  going  out  to  Australia  or  Canada.  I  wouldn't  go 
with  him.  I  think  nobody  could  have  reasonably  expected 
me  to." 

Marian  smiled.  "  Well,"  she  said,  "  I  wonder  if  you 
know  that  your  husband  was  one  of  the  men  who  were 
willing  to  take  the  mine  over.  There  are  reasons  for 
believing  it  was  what  brought  him  here  in  the  first 
place." 

Millicenf s  start  betrayed  the  fact  that  this  was  news  to 
her,  but  just  then  there  was  a  rattle  of  wheels  outside,  and 
Marian  rose.  A  murmur  of  voices  and  laughter  grew 
clearer  when  the  outer  door  was  opened,  and  the  two 
could  hear  the  returning  shooters  talking  with  their  host, 
who  had  gone  out  another  way  to  meet  them. 

"  The  birds  were  scarce  and  very  wild,"  announced  one 
of  them.  "  We  had  only  two  or  three  brace  all  morning, 
though  we  were  a  little  more  fortunate  when  we  got  up 
onto  the  higher  land.  It's  my  candid  opinion  that  we 
should  have  done  better  there,  but  Leslie  had  all  the  luck 
in  the  turnips,  and  he  made  a  shocking  bad  use  of  it." 

"  That's  a  fact,"  assented  Leslie  with  what  struck  Milli- 
cent as  a  rather  strained  laugh.  "  I  was  right  off  the 
mark.  There  are  some  days  when  you  simply  can't 
shoot." 

Several  of  the  women  guests  now  entered  the  hall,  but 
the  men  did  not  come  in.  Judging  from  the  sounds  out- 
side they  seemed  to  be  waiting  while  coats  or  cartridge 
bags  were  handed  down  to  them  from  the  dog-cart,  and 
they  were  evidently  bantering  one  another  in  the  mean- 
while. 

"  It  depends  upon  how  long  you  sit  up  in  the  smoking- 
room  on  the  previous  night,"  said  one  of  them,  and  an- 
other observed: 


62        THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

"  If  you  happen  to  be  in  business,  the  state  of  the 
markets  has  its  effect." 

Millicent  started  again  at  this,  for  she  remembered  her 
husband's  expression  when  he  had  read  his  letter  on  the 
preceding  evening.  A  third  speaker  took  up  the  conver- 
sation. 

"  I  don't  think  any  variation  in  the  price  of  Colonials 
or  Kaffirs,  or  of  wheat  and  cotton,  for  that  matter,  should 
prevent  a  man  from  telling  the  difference  between  a  hare 
and  a  dog.  I've  a  suspicion  that  if  Tom  cares  to  look  he'll 
find  one  or  two  number  six  pellets  in  the  hindquarters  of 
the  setter.  It's  a  good  thing  our  friend  wasn't  quite  up 
to  his  usual  form  that  time." 

A  burst  of  laughter  followed,  and  Leslie's  voice  broke 
through  it  rather  sharply  as  he  replied :  "  He  should 
have  kept  the  brute  in  hand.  The  difference  isn't  a  big 
one  when  you  can  only  see  a  liver-colored  patch  through  a 
clump  of  bracken.     Besides,  there  was  a  hare." 

"  Undoubtedly,"  cried  somebody.     "  Lawson  got  it." 

Then  they  came  in  one  after  another,  and  while  some  of 
them  spoke  to  their  hostess  and  the  other  women  Leslie 
walked  up  to  the  little  table  where  several  letters  were 
spread  out.  Millicent  watched  him  as  he  did  it,  and  there 
was  no  doubt  that  the  very  way  he  moved  was  suggestive 
of  restrained  eagerness.  She  saw  him  tear  open  a  tele- 
gram and  crumple  it  in  his  hand,  after  which  he  seized 
a  second  one  and  ripped  it  across  the  fold  in  his  clumsy 
haste.  Then  as  he  put  the  pieces  together  his  face  grew 
suddenly  pale  and  haggard.  Nobody  else,  however,  ap- 
peared to  notice  him,  and  he  leaned  with  one  hand  upon 
the  table  for  a  moment  or  two  witli  his  head  turned  away 
from  her.  She  felt  her  heart  beat  painfully  fast,  for  it 
was  clear  that  a  disaster  of  some  kind  had  befallen  him, 
though  a  large  part  of  her  anxiety  sprang  from  the  ques- 
tion how  far  the  fact  was  likely  to  affect  herself.  He 
moved  away  from  the  table,  an. I  went  towards  the  stair- 
way at  the  further  end  of  the  hall,  and  she  followed  him 


MILLICENT'S   REWARD  63 

a  few  minutes  later.  He  was  sitting  by  an  open  window 
when  she  reached  their  room.  A  candle  flickered  beside 
him  and  a  little  bundle  of  papers  was  clenched  in  one 
hand. 

"What  is  it,  Harry?"  she  asked. 

He  looked  up  at  her,  and  his  voice  sounded  hoarse. 
"  I'll  try  to  tell  you  later,"  he  answered.  "  There's  a  din- 
ner to  be  got  through,  and  it  will  be  a  big  enough  effort 
to  sit  it  out.  Slip  away  as  soon  as  you  can  afterward 
without  attracting  attention.  You'll  find  me  on  the  ter- 
race." 

He  dismissed  her  with  a  wave  of  his  hand,  and  she 
turned  towards  the  little  dressing-room.  When  she  came 
out  again  he  had  gone,  leaving  his  outdoor  clothing  scat- 
tered on  the  floor. 

The  dinner  that  followed  was  an  ordeal  to  Millicent, 
but  she  took  her  part  in  the  conversation,  and  glanced 
towards  her  husband  only  now  and  then.  He  did  not 
eat  a  great  deal,  and  though  he  spoke  when  it  seemed 
necessary,  she  noticed  the  trace  of  unsteadiness  in  his 
voice.  At  last,  however,  the  meal,  which  seemed  to  drag 
on  interminably,  was  finished  and  as  soon  as  possible  she 
slipped  out  upon  the  terrace  where  she  found  Leslie  lean- 
ing against  a  seat.  The  moon  which  had  risen  higher  was 
brighter  now,  and  she  could  see  his  face.  It  showed  set 
and  somber  in  the  pale  silvery  light. 

"  Well  ?  "  she  said  impatiently.    "  Can't  you  speak  ?  " 

"  I'll  try,"  he  answered.  "  Winkleheim  Reef  Explora- 
tions went  down  to  four  and  six  pence  to-day,  and  as 
there's  5  shillings  a  share  not  paid  up,  it's  very  prob- 
able that  one  wouldn't  be  able  to  give  the  stock  away  be- 
fore the  market  closes  to-morrow." 

"Ah,"  replied  Millicent  sharply,  "didn't  you  tell  me 
that  they  were  worth  sixteen  shillings  not  very  long  ago? 
Why  didn't  you  sell  them  then?" 

"  Because,  as  it  seems  to  me  now,  my  greediness  was 
greater  than  my  judgment.     I  wanted  twenty  shillings, 


m       THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

and  I  thought  I  saw  how  I  could  get  it."  He  paused  with 
a  little  jarring  laugh.  "  As  a  matter  of  fact — strange  as 
it  may  seem — I  believed  in  the  thing.  That  is  why  I  let 
them  send  out  their  independent  expert,  and  held  on 
when  the  stock  began  to  drop.  At  the  worst,  I'd  good 
reasons  for  believing  Walmer  would  let  me  see  the  cipher 
report  in  time  to  sell.  As  it  happened,  he  and  the  other 
traitor  sold  their  own  stock  instead  and  that  must  have 
started  the  panic.  Now  they've  got  their  report.  There's 
no  ore  that  will  pay  for  milling  in  the  reef." 

It  was  not  all  clear  to  Millicent,  but  she  understood 
from  his  manner  that  her  husband  was  ruined.  "  Then 
what  are  we  to  do?"  she  asked.  "Is  there  nobody  who 
will  give  you  a  start  again?  You  must  be  known  in  the 
business." 

"  That  is  the  precise  trouble.  I'm  too  well  known.  So 
long  as  a  man  is  a  winner  at  this  particular  game  and 
can  make  it  worth  while  for  interested  folks  to  applaud 
him,  or,  at  least,  to  keep  their  mouths  shut,  he  can  find  a 
field  for  his  talents  when  he  wants  it,  but  once  he  makes 
a  false  move  or  comes  down  with  a  bang,  they  get  their 
claws  in  him  and  keep  him  from  getting  up  again.  No- 
body has  any  sympathy  with  a  broken  company  exploiter, 
especially  when  he  has  for  once  been  crazy  enough  to  be- 
lieve in  his  own  venture." 

Leslie  found  it  a  small  relief  to  run  on  with  ironical 
bitterness,  but  Millicent,  who  was  severely  practical  in 
some  respects,  checked  him. 

"  You  haven't  answered  my  other  question." 

"  Then  I  won't  keep  you  waiting.  In  a  few  weeks  we'll 
go  out  to  the  Pacific  Slope  of  North  America.  I  may 
save  enough  from  the  wreck  to  start  me  in  the  land-agency 
business  somewhere  in  British  Columbia.'' 

Millicent  turned  from  him.  and  gazed  down  the  moon- 
lit valley.  Troubled  as  she  was,  its  rugged  beauty  and  its 
stillness  appealed  to  her,  and  she  knew  it  would  be  a 
wrench  to  leave  the  land  which  had  hitherto  safely  shel- 


MILLICENT'S   REWARD  65 

tered  her.  She  had  known  only  the  smoother  side  of  life 
in  it,  and  nobody  could  appreciate  the  ease  and  luxury  it 
could  offer  some  of  its  inhabitants  better  than  she  did. 
Now,  it  seemed,  she  must  leave  it,  and  go  out  to  struggle 
for  a  mere  living  in  some  unlovely  town  in  what  she  sup- 
posed must  be  a  wild  and  semi-barbarous  country.  She 
felt  bitter  against  the  man  who,  as  she  thought  of  it,  had 
dragged  her  down,  but  she  hid  her  resentment. 

"  But  you  know  nothing  about  the  land-agency  busi- 
ness," she  pointed  out. 

Leslie  laughed  ironically.  "  I  have  a  few  ideas.  Milli- 
gan — we  had  him  over  at  dinner  once — made  a  good 
deal  of  money  that  way,  and  from  what  he  told  me  it 
doesn't  seem  very  different  from  the  business  I  have  been 
engaged  in.  Success  evidently  depends  upon  one's  ability 
to  sell  the  confiding  investor  what  he  thinks  he'd  like 
to  get.  Somehow  I  fancy  that,  with  moderately  good 
luck,  two  or  three  years  of  it  should  set  us  on  our 
feet." 

"  But  those  two  or  three  years.  It's  unthinkable ! " 
Millicent  broke  out. 

"  I'm  afraid  you  will  have  to  face  them,"  said  Leslie 
dryly.  He  turned  and  looked  hard  at  her.  "  You  can't 
reasonably  rue  your  bargain.  You  knew  when  I  married 
you  that  while  I  had  the  command  of  mone}'  my  business 
was  a  risky  one." 

Again  Millicent  stood  silent  a  moment  or  two.  She 
recognized  that  it  was  largely  because  Leslie  enjoyed  that 
command  of  money  that  she  had  discarded  Geoffrey.  Now 
his  riches  had  apparently  taken  wings  and  vanished,  but 
the  man  was  bound  to  her  still.  One  could  fancy  that 
there  was  something  like  retribution  in  the  thing. 

"  It's  rather  dreadful,  but  I  suppose  I  shall  not  make 
it  any  better  by  complaining,"  she  remarked  after  a  long 
silence. 

Her  husband's  manner  became  embarrassed.  "  I  un- 
derstand that  Anthony  Thurston  is  well  off  and  you  were 


66        THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

a  favorite  of  his/*'  he  said.  "  Would  it  be  of  any  use  if 
you  explained  the  trouble  to  him  ?  " 

"  No,"  was  the  answer,  "  it  would  be  perfectly  useless, 
and  for  other  reasons  that  course  is  impossible.  He 
meant  me  to  marry  Geoffrey  and  I've  mortally  offended 
him.    He's  a  hard,  determined  man." 

Leslie  made  a  sign  of  assent,  though  there  was  a  sug- 
gestion of  grim  amusement  in  his  manner.  "  I  suppose 
you  couldn't  very  well  explain  that  it  was  Geoffrey  who 
threw  you  over?  That  would,  no  doubt,  be  too  much  to 
expect  of  you,  and,  after  all,  when  you  get  to  the  bottom 
of  the  matter  it  wouldn't  be  true.  In  reality  you  finished 
with  Geoffrey  \iihen  he  decided  to  emigrate  instead  of  sell- 
ing the  mine,  didn't  you  ?  " 

Millicent  flashed  a  swift  glance  at  him,  but  he  met  it 
half-mockingly,  and  she  turned  her  head  away.  "  Why 
should  you  make  yourself  intolerable  ? "  she  returned. 
"  I'm  sorry  for  you — that  is,  I  want  to  be,  if  you  will  let 
me." 

Leslie  shrugged  his  shoulders  as  he  lit  a  cigar.  "  Well," 
he  said,  "it  can't  be  helped.  We  must  face  the  thing! 
And  now  I  don't  want  to  set  the  others  wondering  why 
we  have  slipped  away;  we  had  better  go  in  again." 
They  walked  back  into  the  house. 

Leslie,  with  one  or  two  of  the  other  men,  sat  up  late 
in  the  smoking-room.  Leslie  told  a  number  of  stories 
with  force  and  point,  and  when  at  length  two  of  his 
companions  went  up  the  stairway  together,  one  of  them 
looked  at  the  other  with  a  lifting  of  the  eyebrows. 

"  After  what  Leslie  has  got  through  to-night,  I'll  take 
the  farthest  place  in  the  line  from  him  to-morrow,"  he 
said.  "  If  his  nerves  aren't  unusually  good  it  seems  quite 
possible  that  there'll  be  more  than  a  setter  peppered." 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  BREAKING   OF   THE  JAM 

It  was  late  one  moonlight  night  when  Geoffrey  Thurston 
sat  inside  his  double-skinned  tent  which  was  pitched  above 
a  river  of  British  Columbia.  A  few  good  furs  checkered 
the  spruce  twigs  which  served  as  a  carpet,  and  the  canvas 
dwelling  was  both  commodious  and  comfortable.  A  bright 
brass  lamp  hung  from  the  ridge  pole,  a  nickeled  clock 
ticked  cheerily  upon  a  hanging  shelf  behind  the  neat 
camp  cot,  while  the  rest  of  the  well-made  furniture  be- 
tokened a  degree  of  prosperity.  One  of  Savine's  junior  as- 
sistants, sent  up  there  in  an  emergency  to  replace  an 
older  man,  sat  close  by,  and,  because  he  dwelt  in  a  bark 
shanty,  envied  Thurston  his  tent. 

Geoffrey  was  studying  a  bridge-work  tracing  that  lay 
unrolled  upon  his  knees. 

"  I  can  only  repeat  what  I  said  months  ago.  The  wing 
slide  of  the  log  pass  is  too  short  and  the  angle  over  sharp," 
he  said,  glancing  at  the  jam.  "  An  extra  big  log  will  jam 
there  some  day  and  imperil  the  whole  bridge.  Did  you 
send  a  man  down  to  keep  watch  to-night  ?  " 

"  The  slide  is  in  accordance  with  the  Eoads  and  Trails 
specification,"  answered  the  young  man,  airily.  "  There 
was  no  reason  why  we  should  do  more  work  than  they 
asked  for.  You're  an  uneasy  man,  Thurston,  always  look- 
ing for  trouble,  and  I've  had  enough  of  late  over  the 
rascally  hoboes  who,  when  they  feel  inclined,  condescend 
to  work  for  me.  Oh,  yes !  I  posted  the  lookout  as  soon 
as  I  heard  Da  vies  was  running  his  saw  logs  down." 

Thurston  hitched  his  chair  forward  and  threw  the  door- 
flap  back  so  that  he  could  look  out  into  the  night.  The 
tent  stood  perched  on  the  hillside.     Long  ranks  of  climb- 

67 


68   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

ing  pines  stretched  upwards  from  it  to  the  scarped  rocks 
which  held  up  the  snow-fields  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
mighty  peaks  above.  Thin  white  mist  and  the  roar  of 
water  rose  up  from  the  shadowy  gorge  below,  but  in  one 
place,  where  the  rock  walls  which  hemmed  it  in  sloped 
down,  a  gossamer-like  structure  spanned  the  chasm.  This 
was  a  wagon-road  bridge  Julius  Savine,  the  contractor  of 
large  interests  and  well-known  name,  was  building  for 
the  Provincial  authorities,  and  on  their  surveyor's  recom- 
mendation he  had  sub-let  to  Thurston  the  construction  of 
a  pass  through  which  saw-logs  and  driftwood  might  slide 
without  jamming  between  the  piers.  Savine,  being 
pressed  for  time,  had  brought  in  a  motley  collection  of 
workmen,  picked  up  haphazard  in  the  seaboard  cities. 
After  bargaining  to  work  for  certain  wages,  these  work- 
men had  demanded  twenty  per  cent.  more.  Thurston, 
who  had  picked  his  own  assistants  carefully,  among  the 
sturdy  ranchers,  and  had  aided  Savine's  representative  in 
resisting  this  demand,  now  surmised  that  the  malcon- 
tents were  meditating  mischief.  There  were  some  mighty 
mean  rascals  among  them,  his  foreman  said. 

"  You're  looking  worried  again,"  observed  his  com- 
panion, presently,  and  Thurston  answered,  "  Perhaps  I 
am.  I  wish  Davies  would  run  his  logs  down  by  daylight, 
but  presumably  the  stream  is  too  fast  for  him  when  the 
waters  rise.  It  might  give  some  of  your  friends  yonder 
an  opportunity,  Summers." 

"You  don't  figure  they're  capable  of  wreck  ing  the 
bridge?"  replied  Summers,  showing  sudden  uneasiness. 

"  One  or  two  among  them,  including  the  man  I  had 
to  thrash,  are  capable  of  anything.  Perhaps  you  had  bet- 
ter hail  your  watchman,"  Thurston  said. 

Summers  blew  a  whistle,  and  an  answer  came  back 
faintly  through  the  fret  of  the  river:  "Plenty  saw  logs 
coming  down.  All  of  them  handy  sizes  and  sliding  safely 
through." 

"That's  good  enough,"  declared  Summers.     " I'm  not 


THE    BREAKING    OF    THE   JAM  69 

made  of  cast-iron,  and  need  a  little  sleep^  at  times,  so 
good -night  to  yon  !  " 

He  departed  with  the  cheerful  confidence  of  the 
salaried  man,  and  Thurston,  who  fought  for  his  own  in- 
terests, flung  himself  down  on  his  trestle  cot  with  all  his 
clothes  on.  Neither  the  timber  slide  nor  the  bridge  was 
quite  finished,  but  because  rivers  in  that  region  shrink 
at  night  when  the  frost  checks  the  drainage  from  the  feed- 
ing glaciers  on  the  peaks  above,  the  saw-miller  had  in- 
sisted on  driving  down  his  logs  when  there  was  less  chance 
of  their  stranding  on  the  shoals  that  cumbered  the  high- 
water  channel.  Thurston  lay  awake  for  some  time,  lis- 
tening to  the  fret  of  the  river,  which  vibrated  far  across 
the  silence  of  the  hills,  and  to  the  occasional  crash  of  a 
mighty  log  smiting  the  slide.  Hardly  had  his  eyelids 
closed  when  he  was  aroused  by  a  sound  of  hurried  foot- 
steps approaching  the  tent.  He  stood  wide  awake  in  the 
entrance  before  the  newcomer  reached  it. 

"  There's  a  mighty  big  pine  caught  its  butt  on  one 
slide  and  jammed  its  thin  end  across  the  pier,"  said  the 
man.     "  Logs  piling  up  behind  it  already !  " 

As  he  spoke  somebody  beat  upon  a  suspended  iron 
sheet  down  in  the  valley  and  drowsy  voices  rose  up  from 
among  the  clustered  tents.  Summers  went  by  shouting, 
"  Get  a  move  on,  before  we  lose  the  bridge !  " 

Five  minutes  later  Thurston,  running  across  a  bend- 
ing plank,  halted  on  the  rock  which  served  as  foun- 
dation for  the  main  bridge  pier.  Beside  him  Sum- 
mers shouted  confused  orders  to  a  group  of  struggling 
men.  The  moonlight  beat  down  mistily  through  the  haze 
that  rose  from  the  river,  and  Geoffrey  could  see  the  long 
wedge-headed  timber  framing  that  he  had  built,  beside  the 
wing  on  the  shore-side,  so  that  any  trunk  floating  down 
would  cannon  off  at  an  angle  and  shoot  safely  between  the 
piers.  But  one  huge  fir  had  proved  too  long  for  the 
pass,  and  when  its  butt  canted,  the  other  end  had  driven 
athwart  the  point  of  the  wedge,  after  which,  because  the 


70   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

river  was  black  with  drifting  logs,  other  heavy  trunks 
drove  against  it  and  jammed  it  fast.  Panting  men  were 
hard  at  work  with  levers  and  pike-poles  striving  to  wrench 
the  massive  trunk  clear,  and  one  lighted  an  air-blast  flare, 
whose  red  glare  flickered  athwart  the  strip  of  water  foam- 
ing between  the  piers.  It  showed  that  some  of  the  logs 
forced  up  by  the  pressure  were  sliding  out  above  the 
others,  while,  amid  a  horrible  grinding,  some  sank.  One 
side  of  the  river  was  blocked  by  a  mass  of  timber  that 
was  increasing  every  moment.  Thurston  feared  that  the 
unfinished  piers  could  not  long  withstand  the  pressure, 
and  he  remembered  that  his  own  work  would  be  paid  for 
only  on  completion.  Nevertheless,  he  passed  several  min- 
utes in  a  critical  survey,  and  then  glanced  towards  cer- 
tain groups  of  dark  figures  watching  for  the  approaching 
ruin. 

"  She'll  go  down  inside  an  hour — that  is  certain,  and 
Savine  will  lose  thousands  of  dollars,"  said  Summers, 
whose  eyes  were  wide  with  apprehension.  "I'm  rattled 
completely.  Can't  you  think  of  anything  that  might  be 
done  ?  " 

"  Yes !  "  answered  Thurston,  coolly.  "  It  is,  however, 
almost  too  late  now.  It  could  have  been  done  readily, 
if  the  man  who  should  have  seen  to  it  had  not  turned 
traitor.     Hello !     Where's  Mattawa  Tom  ?  " 

A  big  sinewy  ax-man  from  the  forests  of  Northern 
Ontario  sprang  up  beside  him,  and  Thurston  said : 

"  I'm  going  to  try  to  chop  through  the  king  log  that's 
keying  them.  It's  rather  more  than  you  bargained  for, 
but  will  you  stand  by  me,  Tom?" 

"Looks  mighty  like  suicide!"  was  the  dry  answer. 
"  But  if  you're  ready  to  chance  it,  I'm  coming  right 
along." 

The  workmen  had  divided  into  two  hostile  camps,  but 
there  was  a  growl  of  admiring  wonder  from  friends  nnd 
foes  alike  when  two  ligures,  balancing  bright  axes,  stood 
high  up  on  the  pier  slides  ready  to  leap  down  upon  the 


THE    BREAKING    OF    THE   JAM  71 

working  logs.  Then  disjointed  cries  went  up :  "  Too 
late ! ':  "  You'll  be  smashed  flatter  than  a  flapjack  when 
the  jam  breaks  up  !  "  "  Get  hold  of  the  fools,  somebody !  " 
"  Take  their  axes  away  !  " 

"  I'll  brain  the  first  man  who  touches  mine,"  threatened 
Thurston,  turning  savagely  upon  those  who  approached 
him  with  remonstrances,  and  there  was  a  simultaneous 
murmur  from  all  the  assembly  when  the  two  adventurous 
men  dropped  upon  the  timber.  The  logs  rolled,  groaned, 
and  heaved  beneath  them  and  Thurston,  trusting  to  the 
creeper  spikes  upon  his  heels,  sprang  from  one  great  tree 
trunk  to  another  behind  his  companion,  who  had  a  longer 
experience  of  the  perilous  work  of  log-driving.  Here  a 
gap,  filled  with  spouting  foam,  opened  up  before  him; 
there  a  trunk  upon  which  he  was  about  to  step  rolled  over 
and  sank.  But  he  worked  his  way  forward  towards  the 
center  of  the  fir  which  keyed  the  growing  mass.  This  log 
was  many  feet  in  girth.  Pressed  down  level  with  the 
water,  it  was  already  bending  like  a  slackly-strung  bow. 

The  example  proved  inspiring.  Thurston's  assistants 
were  sturdy,  fearless  men,  who  often  risked  their  lives  in 
wresting  a  living  from  the  forest,  so  several  among  them 
prepared  to  follow.  Two  seamen  deserters  sprang  out 
from  the  ranks  of  the  mutineers.  One  stalwart  forest 
rancher,  however,  tripped  his  comrade  up,  and  sat  upon 
his  prostrate  form  shouting,  "  You'll  stop  just  where  you 
are,  you  blame  idiot!  You  couldn't  do  nothing  if  you 
got  there.  Hardly  room  for  them  two  fellows  already 
where  they  can  get  at  the  log !  " 

The  remaining  volunteers  saw  the  force  of  this  argu- 
ment and  when  somebody  increased  the  blast  of  the  lamp 
so  that  the  roaring  column  of  flame  leapt  up  higher,  the 
men  stood  very  still,  staring  at  the  two  who  had  now 
gained  the  center  of  the  partly  submerged  log. 

It  requires  considerable  practice  to  acquire  full  mastery 
of  the  long-hafted  ax,  but  Thurston,  who  was  stout  of 
arm  and  keen  of  eye,  had  managed  to  earn  his  bread  with 


72   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

it  one  winter  in  an  Ontario  logging  camp.  When  he 
swung  aloft  the  heavy  wedge  of  steel,  it  reflected  the  blast 
lamp's  radiance,  making  red  flashes  as  it  circled  round  his 
head.  It  came  down  hissing  close  past  his  knee.  Mat- 
tawa  Tom's  blade  crossed  it  when  it  rose,  and  the  first 
white  chip  leapt  up.  More  chips  followed  in  quick  suc- 
cession until  they  whirled  in  one  continuous  shower,  and 
the  razor-edged  steel  losing  definite  form  became  a  con- 
fused circling  brightness,  in  the  center  of  which  two 
supple  figures  swayed  and  heaved.  The  red  light  smit- 
ing the  faces  of  the  two  showed  great  drops  of  sweat, 
the  swell  of  toil-hardened  muscles  on  the  corded  arms, 
and  the  rise  of  each  straining  chest.  There  was  not  a 
clash  nor  a  falter,  but,  flash  after  flash,  the  blades  came 
down  chunking  into  the  ever-widening  notch.  Summers 
had  seen  sword  play  in  Montreal  armories,  and  had  heard 
the  ax  clang  often  on  the  side  of  Western  firs,  but — for 
Thurston  was  fighting  to  stave  off  ruin — this  grim 
struggle  in  the  face  of  a  desperate  risk  surpassed  any 
remembered  exhibition  of  fencers'  skill  with  the  steel. 
The  trunk  was  bending  visibl}r  beneath  the  hewers,  the 
river  frothed  more  at  their  feet,  and  the  giant  logs  were 
rolling,  creeping,  shocking  close  behind,  ready  to  plunge 
forward  when  the  partly  severed  trunk  should  yield. 

Thurston  felt  as  if  his  lungs  were  bursting,  his  heart 
throbbed  painfully,  and  something  drummed  deaf'eningly 
inside  his  head.  His  vision  grew  hazy,  and  he  could 
scarcely  see  the  widening  gap  in  the  rough  bark  into 
which  the  trenchant  steel  cut.  It  was  evident  that  the 
Steadily  increasing  jam  would  rub  the  bridge  piers  out  of 
existence  long  before  any  two  men  could  hew  half  way 
through  the  great  trunk,  but,  fortunately,  the  log  was  now 
bending  like  a  fully-drawn  bow,  and  the  pressure  would 
burst  it  asunder  when  a  little  more  of  its  circumference 
had  been  chopped  into.  So,  choking  and  blinded  with 
perspiration,  Geoffrey  smote  on  mechanically,  until  the 
man  from  Mattawa  said,  "  She's  about  busted." 


THE    BREAKING    OF    THE   JAM  73 

Just  then  there  was  a  clamor  from  the  watchers  on 
the  piers.  Men  shouted,  "  Come  back/'  "  Whole  jam's 
starting !  "  "  King  log's  yielding  now !  "  "  Jump  for 
your  lives  before  the  wreckage  breaks  away  with  you ! " 

Mattawa  Tom  leapt  shorewards  from  moving  log  to 
log,  but  for  a  few  moments  Thurston,  who  scarcely  noticed 
his  absence,  chopped  on  alone.  Filled  with  the  lust  of 
conflict,  he  remembered  only  that  it  was  necessary  to 
make  sure  of  victory  before  he  relaxed  an  effort.  Thrice 
more  in  succession  he  whirled  the  heavy  ax  above  his  head, 
while,  with  a  sharp  snapping  of  fibers,  the  fir  trunk 
yielded  beneath  his  feet.  Flinging  his  ax  into  the  river 
he  stood  erect,  breathless,  a  moment  too  late.  The  logs 
behind  the  one  which  perilously  supported  him  were 
creeping  forward  ready  for  the  mad  rush  that  must  follow 
a  few  seconds  later. 

There  remained  now  but  one  poor  chance  of  escape 
and  he  seized  it  instinctively.  Springing  along  the  sink- 
ing trunk,  he  threw  himself  clear  of  it  into  the  river, 
while  running  men  jostled  each  other  as  they  surged 
toward  the  side  of  the  timber  when  he  sank.  A  wet  head 
broke  the  surface,  a  swinging  left  hand  followed  it.  The 
swimmer  clutched  the  edge  of  a  loosely-fitted  beam,  and 
held  it  until  strong  hands  reached  down  to  him.  Some 
gripped  his  wet  fingers,  some  the  back  of  his  coat,  one 
even  clutched  his  hair.  There  was  a  heave,  then  a 
scramble,  and,  amid  hoarse  cheers,  the  rescued  man  fell 
over  backwards  among  his  rescuers. 

Thurston,    who    stood    up    dripping,    said,    somewhat 
shakily:     "Ah,  you  were  only  just  in  time!     I'm  vastly' 
grateful  to  you  all." 

The  last  words  were  lost  in  a  deafening  crash  as  the 
jam  broke  up,  and  the  giant  logs  drove  through  the  open- 
ing, thrashing  the  river  into  foam.  The  tree-trunks 
ground  against  one  another,  or  smote  the  slide  casing  with 
a  thunderous  shock;  but  the  stone-backed  timber  stood 
the  strain,  and  when  the  clamor  of  the  passage  of  the  loes 


74   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

ceased,  a  heavy  stillness  brooded  over  the  camp  as  the 
river  grew  empty  again. 

Thurston  sought  out  the  man  from  Mattawa.  Laying 
a  wet  hand  upon  his  shoulder  he  said :  "  Thank  you,  Tom. 
I  won't  forget  the  assistance  you  rendered  me." 

"  That's  all  right,"  answered  the  brawny  ax-man,  awk- 
wardly. "  I  get  my  wages  safe  and  regular,  and  I've 
tackled  as  tough  a  contract  for  a  worse  master  before." 

There  was  no  chance  for  further  speech.  Davies,  who 
owned  the  saw-mill  lower  down  stream,  reined  in  a  lath- 
ered horse,  close  by.  "  Where  have  all  my  logs  gone  to  ?  " 
he  asked.  "  My  foreman  roused  me  to  say  only  a  few 
dozen  had  brought  up  in  the  boom,  and  as  the  boys  were 
running  them  down  by  scores  I  figured  they'd  piled  up 
against  your  bridge.  I  don't  see  any  special  chaos  about 
here,  though  you  look  as  if  you  had  been  in  swimming; 
but  what  in  the  name  of  thunder  have  you  done  with  the 
logs  ?  " 

"  They're  on  their  way  down  river,"  Thurston  replied, 
dryly.  "  We  had  some  trouble  with  them  which  neces- 
sitated my  taking  a  bath.  But  see  here,  what  made  you 
turn  a  two-hundred-foot  red  fir  loose  among  them  ? " 

"  I  didn't,"  answered  Davies,  with  a  puzzled  air.  "  The 
boys  saw  every  log  into  standard  lengths.  We  have  no 
use  for  a  two-hundred-footer  and  couldn't  get  her  into  the 
mill.     Are  you  sure  it  wasn't  a  wind-blown  log?" 

"  I  saw  the  butt  had  been  freshly  cross-cut,"  declared 
Thurston  with  an  ominous  glitter  in  his  eyes.  "I  under- 
stand you  are  pretty  slack  just  now.  As  a  favor,  would 
you  hire  your  chopping  gang  to  me  for  a  few  days?  I'll 
tell  you  why  I  want  them  later." 

"  I'll  decide  in  a  few  minutes,"  he  added,  when  Davies 
had  told  him  what  tiie  cost  would  be.  Turning  towards 
Summers  he  said:  "There  may  be  several  more  big  red 
firs  growing  handy  beside  the  river,  and  I  mean  to  prevent 
any  more  accidents  of  this  kind  in  future.  If  your  em- 
ployer will  not  reimburse  me,  I  will  bear  the  cost  myself. 


THE    BREAKING    OF    THE    JAM  75 

I  would  sooner  spend  my  last  dollar  than  allow  any  of 
these  loafers  to  coerce  me." 

The  workmen  stood  still,  all  of  them  curious,  and  a 
few  uneasy.  Raising  one  hand  to  demand  attention, 
Thurston  said :  "  A  red  fir  was  felled  by  two  or  three 
among  you  to-day,  and  launched  down  stream  after  dark- 
ness fell.  I  want  the  men  who  did  it  to  step  forward  and 
explain  their  reasons  to  me." 

"  You're  a  mighty  bold  man,"  remarked  Summers — 
who  knew  that,  although  few  were  actually  dangerous, 
the  malcontents  outnumbered  Thurston's  loyal  assistants. 

Among  the  listeners  nobody  moved,  but  there  was  a 
murmuring,  and  all  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the  speaker, 
who,  either  by  design  or  accident,  leaned  upon  the  haft 
of  a  big  ax. 

"  I  hardly  expected  an  answer,"  he  went  on.  "  Ac- 
cordingly, I'll  proceed  to  name  the  men  who  I  believe 
must  know  about  this  contemptible  action,  and  notify 
them  that  they  will  be  paid  off  to-morrow." 

A  tumult  of  mingled  wrath  and  applause  started  when 
Thurston  coolly  called  aloud  a  dozen  names.  One  voice 
broke  through  the  others :  "  We're  working  for  Julius 
Savine,  an'  don't  count  a  bad  two-bits  on  you,"  it  de- 
clared defiantly.  "  We'll  all  fling  our  tools  into  the  river 
before  we  let  one  of  them  fellows  go." 

"  In  that  case  the  value  of  the  tools  will  be  deducted 
from  the  wages  due  you,"  Thurston  announced  calmly. 
"  After  this  notice,  Julius  Savine's  representative  won't 
pay  any  of  the  men  I  mention,  whether  they  work  or 
not;  and  nobody,  who  does  not  earn  it,  will  get  a  single 
meal  out  of  the  cook  shanty.  I'll  give  you  until  to- 
morrow to  make  up  your  minds  concerning  what  you  will 
do.  Aside  to  Davies  he  said :  "  I'll  take  your  lumber  gang 
in  any  case.  Go  back  and  send  them  in  as  soon  as  you 
can." 

The  assembly  broke  up  in  a  divided  state  of  mind. 
Although  it  was  very  late,  little  groups  lingered  outside 


76   THUKSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

the  tents,  and  at  intervals  angry  voices  were  heard.  Sum- 
mers set  out  for  the  railroad  to  communicate  by  telegraph 
with  his  employer,  and  Thurston  retired  to  his  tent,  where 
he  went  peacefully  to  sleep.  Awakening  later  than  usual, 
he  listened  with  apparent  unconcern  to  Mattawa  Tom, 
who  aroused  him,  with  the  warning : 

"  It's  time  you  were  out.  Them  fellows  are  coming 
along  for  their  money.  The  boys  called  up  a  big  roll, 
as  soon  as  the  lumber  gang  marched  in,  and,  though  there 
was  considerable  wild  talking,  the  sensible  ones  allowed 
it  was  no  more  use  kicking." 

"  That's  all  right,"  averred  Thurston,  who  paid  the  de- 
parting malcontents  and  was  glad  to  get  rid  of  them, 
knowing  that  the  lumbermen,  who  were  mostly  poor 
settlers,  had  small  sympathy  with  the  mutineers  and  that 
he  would  have  at  least  a  balance  of  power.  He  set  the 
men  to  work  immediately  lengthening  the  wing  of  the  log 
slide  and  the  wedge  guards  of  the  piers.  He  himself 
toiled  as  hard  as  any  two  among  them,  and,  to  the  as- 
tonishment of  all,  completed  the  big  task  before  the  week 
was  past. 

"I  hardly  like  to  say  what  it  has  cost  me,  but  no  log 
of  any  length  could  jam  itself  in  the  new  pass,"  he  said 
to  Summers. 

"  You're  an  enterprising  man,"  was  the  answer. 
"  Savine  is  a  bit  of  a  rustler,  too,  and  you'll  have  a 
chance  of  explaining  things  to  him  to-morrow.  I  have 
had  word  from  him  that  he's  coming  through." 


CHAPTER   VIII 

A    REST   BY    THE   WAY 

It  was  afternoon  when  Julius  Savine,  accompanied  by 
Summers,  had  entered  Thurston's  tent.  On  the  way  from 
the  railroad,  Summers  had  explained  to  the  contractor 
all  that  had  happened.  Geoffrey  rose  to  greet  Savine, 
glancing  at  his  employer  with  some  curiosity,  for  he  had 
not  met  him  before.  Savine  was  a  man  of  quick,  restless 
movements  and  nervous  disposition.  The  gray  that  tinged 
his  long  mustache,  lightly  sprinkled  his  hair,  gave  evi- 
dence of  his  fifty  years  of  intense  living.  He  was  known 
to  be  not  only  a  daring  engineer,  but  a  generally  successful 
speculator  in  mining  and  industrial  enterprises.  Never- 
theless, Geoffrey  fancied  that  something  in  his  face  gave 
a  hint  of  physical  weakness. 

"  I  have  heard  one  or  two  creditable  things  about  you, 
and  thought  of  asking  you  to  run  up  to  my  offices,  but 
I'm  glad  to  meet  you  now,"  said  Savine  with  a  smile, 
adding  when  Thurston  made  a  solemn  bow,  "  There,  I've 
been  sufficiently  civil,  and  I  see  you  would  rather  I  talked 
business.  I'm  considerably  indebted  to  you  for  the  way 
you  tackled  the  late  crisis,  and  approve  of  the  log-guard's 
extension.     How  much  did  the  extra  work  cost  you  ?  " 

"  Here  is  the  wages  bill  and  a  list  of  the  iron  work 
charged  at  cost,"  Thurston  answered.  "As  I  did  the 
work  without  any  orders  you  would  be  justified  in  declin- 
ing to  pay  for  it,  and  I  have  included  no  profit." 

"Ah!"  said  Savine,  who  glanced  over  the  paper  and 
scribbled  across  it.  Looking  up  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye, 
he  asked:  "Have  you  been  acquiring  riches  latterly? 
My  cashier  will  pay  that  note  whenever  you  hand  it  in  at 
Vancouver.     I'll  also  endorse  your  contract  for  payment 

77 


78        THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

if  you  will  give  it  me.  Further,  I  want  to  say  that  I've 
been  to  look  at  your  work,  and  it  pleases  me.  There  are 
plenty  of  men  in  this  province  who  would  have  done  it  as 
solidly,  but  it's  the  general  design  and  ingenious  fixings 
that  take  my  fancy.  May  I  ask  where  you  got  the 
ideas  ?  " 

"  In  England,"  answered  Geoffrey.  "  I  spent  some 
time  in  the  drawing  office  of  a  man  of  some  note."  He 
mentioned  a  name,  and  Savine,  who  looked  at  him  critic- 
ally, nodded  as  if  in  recognition.  The  older  man  smiled 
when  Thurston  showed  signs  of  resenting  his  inspection. 

"In  that  case  I  should  say  you  ought  to  do,"  Savine 
observed,  cheerfully. 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Thurston,  and  Savine  an- 
swered : 

"  No  ?  Well,  if  vou'll  wait  a  few  moments  I'll  trv  to 
make  things  plain  to  you.  I  want  a  live  man  with  brains 
of  his  own,  and  some  knowledge  of  mechanical  science. 
There  is  no  trouble  about  getting  them  by  the  car  load 
from  the  East  or  the  Old  Country,  but  the  man  for  me 
must  know  how  to  use  his  muscles,  if  necessary,  and 
handle  ax  and  drill  as  well.  In  short,  I  want  one  who 
has  been  right  through  the  mill  as  you  seem  to  have  been, 
and,  so  long  as  he  earns  it,  I'm  not  going  to  worry  over  his 
salary." 

"  I'm  afraid  I  would  not  suit  you,"  said  Geoffrey. 
"  I'm  rather  too  fond  of  my  own  way  to  make  a  good 
servant,  and  of  late  I  have  not  done  badly  fighting  for 
my  own  hand.  Therefore,  while  I  thank  you,  and  should 
be  glad  to  undertake  any  minor  contracts  you  can  give 
mo,  I  prefer  to  continue  as  at  present." 

"  I  should  not  fancy  that  you  would  be  particularly 
easy  to  get  on  with,"  Savine  observed  with  another  shrewd 
glance,  hut  with  unabated  good  humor.  "Still,  what  you 
suggest  might  suit  me.  I  have  rather  more  work  at 
present  than  I  can  hold  on  to  with  both  hands,  and  have 
tolerably  good  accounts  of  you.     Come  West  with  me  and 


A    REST    BY    THE    WAY  79 

spend  the  week  end  at  my  house,  where  we  could  talk 
things  over  quietly." 

Geoffrey  was  gratified — for  the  speaker  was  famous  in 
his  profession — and  he  showed  his  feeling  as  he  answered : 
"  I  consider  mvself  fortunate  that  you  should  ask 
me." 

"  I  figured  you  were  not  fond  of  compliments,  and  I'm 
a  plain  man  myself,"  declared  Savine,  with  the  humor 
apparent  in  his  keen  eyes  again.  "  I  will,  however,  give 
you  one  piece  of  advice  before  I  forget  it.  My  sister-in- 
law  might  be  there,  and  if  she  wants  to  doctor  you,  don't 
let  her.  She  has  a  weakness  for  physicking  strangers,  and 
the  results  are  occasionally  embarrassing." 

It  happened  accordingly  that  Thurston,  who  had  over- 
hauled his  wardrobe  in  Vancouver,  duly  arrived  at  a  pretty 
wooden  villa  which  looked  down  upon  a  deep  inlet.  He 
knew  the  mountain  valleys  of  the  Cumberland,  and  had 
wandered,  sometimes  footsore  and  hungry,  under  the  giant 
ramparts  of  the  Selkirks  and  the  Eockies,  but  he  had  never 
seen  a  fairer  spot  than  the  reft  in  the  hills  which  sheltered 
Savine's  villa,  and  was  known  by  its  Indian  name,  "  The 
Place  of  the  Hundred  Springs." 

For  a  background  somber  cedars  lifted  their  fretted 
spires  against  the  skyline  on  the  southern  hand.  Be- 
neath the  trees  the  hillsides  closed  in  and  the  emerald 
green  of  maples  and  tawny  tufts  of  oak  rolled  down  to  a 
breadth  of  milk-white  pebbles  and  a  stretch  of  silver  sand, 
past  which  clear  green  water  shoaling  from  shade  to  shade 
wound  inland.  Threads  of  glancing  spray  quivered  in 
and  out  among  the  foliage,  and  high  above,  beyond  a  strip 
of  sparkling  sea  and  set  apart  by  filmy  cloud  from  all  the 
earth  below,  stretched  the  giant  saw-edge  of  the  Coast 
Range's  snow. 

The  white-painted,  red-roofed  dwelling,  with  its  green- 
latticed  shutters,  tasteful  scroll  work  and  ample,  if  in- 
differently swarded,  lawns,  was  pleasant  to  look  upon, 
but  Thurston  found  more  pleasure  in   the   sight  of  its 


-80   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

young  mistress,  who  awaited  him  in  a  great  cool  room 
that  was  hung  with  deer-head  trophies  and  floored  with 
parquetry  of  native  timber. 

Helen  Savine  wore  a  white  dress  and  her  favorite 
crimson  roses  nestled  in  the  belt.  Though  she  greeted 
Geoffrey  with  indifferent  cordiality,  the  girl  was  surprised 
when  her  eyes  rested  upon  him.  Thurston  was  not  a  man 
of  the  conventional  type  one  meets  and  straightway  for- 
gets, and  she  had  often  thought  about  him ;  but,  since  the 
night  at  Crosbie  Ghyll,  his  image  had  presented  itself  as 
she  first  saw  him — ragged,  hungry,  and  grim,  a  worthy 
descendant  of  the  wild  Thurstons  about  whom  Musker 
had  discoursed.  Now,  in  spite  of  his  weather-beaten  face 
and  hardened  hands,  he  appeared  what  he  was,  a  man  of 
education  and  some  refinement,  and  his  resolute  expres- 
sion, erect  carriage,  and  muscular  frame,  rendered  lithe 
and  almost  statuesque  by  much  swinging  of  the  ax,  gave 
him  an  indefinite  air  of  distinction.  Again  she  decided 
that  Geoffrey  Thurston  was  a  well-favored  man,  but  re- 
membering Muskers  stories,  she  set  herself  to  watch  for 
some  trace  of  inherent  barbarity.  This  was  unfortunate 
for  Geoffrey,  because  in  such  cases  observers  generally 
discover  what  they  search  for. 

Geoffrey  was  placed  beside  Helen  at  dinner,  and  having 
roughed  it  since  he  left  England,  and  even  before  that 
time,  it  seemed  strange  to  him  to  be  deftly  waited  upon  at 
a  table  glittering  with  silver  and  gay  will)  flowers.  i\Ir>. 
Thomas  Savine  sat  opposite  him,  between  her  husband 
and  the  host,  and  Helen  found  certain  suspicions  con- 
firmed when  Savine  referred  to  the  crushing  of  the  strike. 
Previouslv,  he  had  given  his  daughter  a  brief  account 
of  it. 

"It  was  daringly  done,"  said  Helen,  "but  I  wonder, 
Mr.  Thurston,  if  vmi  and  others  who  hold  the  power  ever 
consider  the  opposite  Bide  of  the  question.  It  may  be  that 
those  men,  whose  task  is  evidently  highly  dangerous,  have 
wives  and  children  depending  upon  them,  and  a  few  extra 


A    REST    BY    THE    WAY  81 

dollars,  earned  hardly  enough,  no  douht,  might  mean  so 
much  to  them." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  don't  always  do  so,"  answered  Geoffrey. 
"  I  have  toiled  tolerably  hard  as  a  workman  myself.  If 
any  employe  should  consider  that  he  was  underpaid  for 
the  risk  he  ran,  and  should  say  so  civilly,  I  should  listen 
to  him.  On  the  other  hand,  if  any  combination  strove  by 
unfair  means  to  coerce  me,  I  should  spare  no  effort  to 
crush  it !  " 

Thurston  generally  was  too  much  in  earnest  to  make  a 
pleasant  dinner-table  conversationalist.  As  he  spoke,  he 
shut  one  big  brown  hand.  It  was  a  trifling  action,  and 
he  was,  perhaps,  unconscious  of  it,  but  Helen,  who  noticed 
the  flicker  in  his  eyes  and  the  vindictive  tightening  of  the 
hard  fingers,  shrank  from  him  instinctively. 

"  Is  that  not  a  cruel  plan  of  action,  and  is  there  no  room 
for  a  gentler  policy  in  your  profession?  Must  the  weak 
always  be  trampled  out  of  existence  ?  "  she  replied,  with  a 
slight  trace  of  indignation. 

Thurston  turned  towards  her  with  a  puzzled  expres- 
sion. Julius  Savine  smiled,  but  his  sister-in-law,  who 
had  remained  silent,  but  not  unobservant,  broke  in :  "  You 
believe  in  the  hereditary  transmission  of  character,  Mr. 
Thurston  ?  " 

"  I  think  most  people  do  to  some  extent,"  answered 
Geoffrey.     "  But  why  do  you  ask  me  ?  " 

"  It's  quite  simple,"  said  Mrs.  Savine,  smiling.  "  Did 
my  husband  tell  you  that  when  we  were  in  England,  we 
were  held  up  by  a  storm  there  one  night  in  your  ancestral 
home?  There  was  a  man  there  who  ought  to  belong  to 
the  feudal  ages.  He  was  called  Musker,  and  he  told  us 
quaint  stories  about  some  of  you.  I  fancy  Geoffrey,  who 
robbed  the  king's  dragoons,  must  have  looked  just  like 
you  when  you  shut  your  fingers  so,  a  few  minutes  ago." 

"  I  am  a  little  surprised,"  Geoffrey  returned  with  a 
flush  rising  in  his  cheeks.  "  Musker  used  to  talk  a  great 
deal  of  romantic  nonsense.     Crosbie  Ghyll  is  no  longer 


82   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

mine.  I  hope  you  passed  a  pleasant  night  there."  Mrs. 
Savine  became  eloquent  concerning  the  historic  interest 
of  the  ancient  house  and  her  brother-in-law,  who  appeared 
interested,  observed. 

"  So  far,  you  have  not  told  me  about  that  particular 
adventure." 

Again  the  incident  was  unfortunate  for  Geoffrey,  be- 
cause Helen,  who  had  no  great  respect  for  her  aunt's 
perceptions,  decided  that  if  the  similitude  had  struck  even 
that  lady,  she  was  right  in  her  own  estimation  of  Thurs- 
ton's character. 

"  We  heard  of  several  instances  of  reckless  daring,  and 
we  Colonials  consider  all  the  historic  romance  of  the  land 
we  sprang  from  belongs  to  us  as  well  as  you,"  Mts. 
Savine  said.  "  So,  if  it  is  not  an  intrusion,  may  I  ask 
if  any  of  those  border  warriors  were  remarkable  for  deeds 
of  self-abnegation  or  charity?" 

"I  am  afraid  not,"  admitted  Geoffrey,  rather  grimly. 
"  Xeither  did  any  of  them  ever  do  much  towards  the 
making  of  history.  All  of  them  were  generally  too  busy 
protecting  their  property  or  seizing  that  of  their  neigh- 
bors! But,  at  least,  when  they  fought,  they  seem  to  have 
fought  for  the  losing  side,  and,  according  to  tradition, 
paid  for  it  dearly.  However,  to  change  the  subject,  is  it 
fair  to  hold  any  man  responsible  for  his  ancestors'  short- 
comings? They  have  gone  back  to  the  dust  long  ago,  and 
it  is  the  present  that  concerns  us." 

"Still,  can  anybody  avoid  the  results  of  those  short- 
comings or  virtues?"  persisted  Helen,  and  her  father 
said: 

"  I  hardly  think  so.  There  is  an  instance  beside  you, 
Mr.  Thurston.  Miss  Savine's  grandfather  ruled  in 
paternally  feudal  fashion  over  a  few  dozen  superstitious 
habitants  way  back  in  old-world  Quebec,  as  his  folks  had 
done  since  the  hist  French  colonization.  That  explains 
my  daughter's  views  on  social  matters  and  her  weakness 
for  playing   the    somewhat   autocratic   Lady   Bountiful. 


A   REST   BY   THE    WAY  83 

The  Seigneurs  were  benevolent  village  despots  with  very 
quaint  ways." 

Savine  spoke  lightly,  and  one  person  only  noticed  that 
the  face  of  his  daughter  was  slightly  less  pale  in  coloring 
than  before,  but  that  one  afterwards  remembered  her 
father's  words  and  took  them  as  a  clue  to  the  woman's 
character.  He  discovered  also  that  Helen  Savine  was 
both  generous  and  benevolent,  but  that  she  loved  to  rule, 
and  to  rule  somewhat  autocratically. 

The  first  day  at  the  Savine  villa  passed  like  a  pleasant 
dream  to  the  man  who  had  toiled  for  a  bare  living  in  the 
shadowy  forests  or  knelt  all  day  among  hot  rocks  to  hold 
the  weary  drill  with  bleeding  fingers.  Mr.  Savine  grew 
more  and  more  interested  in  Geoffrey,  who,  during  the 
second  day,  made  great  advances  in  the  estimation  of 
Mrs.  Thomas  Savine.  Bicycles  were  not  so  common  a 
woman's  possession  in  Canada,  or  elsewhere,  then.  In 
fact,  there  were  few  roads  in  British  Columbia  fit  to 
propel  one  on.  An  American  friend  had  sent  Miss  Savine 
a  wheel  which,  after  a  few  journeys  over  a  corduroy  road, 
groaned  most  distressfully  whenever  she  mounted  it. 
Helen  desired  to  ride  in  to  the  railroad,  but  the  gaudy 
machine  complained  even  more  than  usual,  and  when  at 
last  one  of  its  wheels  declined  to  revolve,  Julius  Savine 
called  Geoffrey's  attention  to  it. 

"  If  you  are  anxious  for  mild  excitement,  and  want  to 
earn  my  daughter's  gratitude,  you  might  tackle  that  con- 
founded thing,  Mr.  Thurston,"  he  said.  "The  local 
blacksmith  shakes  his  head  over  it,  and  sent  it  back  the 
•  last  time  worse  than  ever,  with  several  necessary  portions 
missing.  After  running  manv  kinds  of  machines  in  my 
time,  I'm  willing  to  own  that  this  particular  specimen 
defies  me." 

Thurston  had  stripped  and  fitted  various  intricate  mi- 
ning appliances,  but  he  had  never  struggled  with  a  bicycle. 
So,  when  Helen  accepted  his  offer  of  assistance,  he  wheeled 
the   machine   out  upon   the    lawn    and   proceeded    light- 


84   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

hearteolly  to  dismantle  it,  while  the  Savine  brothers 
lounged  in  cane  chairs,  encouraging  him  over  their  cigars. 
The  dismantling  was  comparatively  simple,  but  when  the 
time  for  reassembling  came,  Thurston,  who  found  that 
certain  cups  could  not  by  any  legitimate  means  be  in- 
duced to  screw  home  into  their  places,  was  perforce 
obliged  to  rest  the  machine  upon  two  chairs  and  wriggle 
underneath  it,  where  he  reclined  upon  his  back  with 
grimy  oil  dripping  upon  his  forehead.  Red  in  the  face, 
he  crawled  out  to  breathe  at  intervals,  and  Helen  made 
stern  efforts  to  conceal  her  mingled  alarm  and  merriment, 
when  Thomas  Savine  said: 

"  Will  you  take  long  odds,  Thurston,  that  you  never 
make  that  invention  of  his  Satanic  Majesty  run  straight 
again  ?  " 

Mrs.  Savine  cautioned  the  operator  about  sunstroke 
and  apoplex)'.  When  Thomas  Savine  caught  Helen's  eye, 
both  laughed  outright,  and  Geoffrey,  mistaking  the  reason, 
felt  hurt;  he  determined  to  conquer  the  bicycle  or  remain 
beneath  it  all  night.  When  at  last  he  succeeded  in  put- 
ting the  various  parts  together  and  straightened  his  ach- 
ing back,  he  hoped  that  he  did  not  look  so  disgusted,  grimy 
and  savage  as  he  undoubtedly  felt. 

"  You  must  really  let  it  alone,"  said  Helen.  "  The  sun 
is  very  hot,  and  perhaps,  you  might  be  more  successful 
after  luncheon.  I  have  noticed  that  when  mending 
bicvclcs  a  rest  and  refreshment  sometimes  prove  benefi- 
cial." 

"  That's  so ! "  agreed  Thomas  Savine.  "  Young  Harry 
was  wont  to  tackle  it  on  just  those  lines.  He  used  up 
several  of  my  best  Cubanos  and  a  bottle  of  claret  each 
time,  before  he  had  finished;  and  then  I  was  never  con- 
vinced that  the  thing  went  any  better." 

"  You  must  beware  of  ruining  your  health,"  interposed 
Mrs.  Savine.  "Mending  bicycles  frequently  leads  to  an 
accumulation  of  malevolent  humors.  Did  I  interrupt 
you,  Mr.  Thurston?" 


A    REST    BY    THE    WAY  85 

"  I  was  only  going  to  say  that  it  is  nearly  finished,  and 
that  I  should  not  like  to  be  vanquished  by  an  affair  of  this 
kind,"  said  Geoffrey  with  empahsis.  "Would  it  hurt  the 
machine  if  I  stood  it  upon  its  head,  Miss  Savine  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  and  I  am  so  grateful,"  Helen  answered  assur- 
ingly,  noticing  guiltily  that  there  were  oil  and  red  dust, 
besides  many  somber  smears,  upon  the  operators  face  and 
jacket,  while  the  skin  was  missing  from  several  of  his 
knuckles. 

It  was  done  at  last,  and  Geoffrey  sighed,  while  the 
rest  of  the  party  expressed  surprise  as  well  as  admira- 
tion when  the  wheels  revolved  freely  without  click  or 
groan.  Julius  Savine  nodded,  with  more  than  casual  ap- 
proval, and  Helen  was  gracious  with  her  thanks. 

"  You  look  quite  faint,"  observed  Mrs.  Savine.  "  It 
was  the  hot  sun  on  your  forehead,  and  the  mental  excite- 
ment. Such  things  are  often  followed  by  dangerous  con- 
sequences, and  you  must  take  a  dose  of  my  elixir. 
Helen,  dear,  you  know  where  to  find  the  bottle." 

Julius  Savine  was  guilty  of  a  slight  gesture  of  im- 
patience. His  brother  laughed,  while  Helen  seemed 
anxious  to  slip  away.     Geoffrey  answered : 

"  I  hardly  think  one  should  get  very  mentally  excited 
over  a  bicycle.  I  feel  perfectly  well,  and  only  somewhat 
greasy." 

"  That  is  just  one  of  the  symptoms.  Yes,  you  have 
hit  it — greasy  feeling !  "  broke  in  the  amateur  dispenser, 
who  rarely  relaxed  her  efforts  until  she  had  run  down 
her  victim.  "  Helen,  why  don't  vou  hunt  round  for 
that  bottle?" 

"  I  mean  greasy  externally,"  explained  Geoffrey  in 
desperation,  and  again  Thomas  Savine  chuckled,  while 
Helen,  who  ground  one  little  boot-heel  into  the  grasses, 
deliberately  turned  away.  Mrs.  Savine,  however,  cheer- 
fully departed  to  find  the  bottle,  and  soon  returned  with 
it  and  a  wine  glass.  She  filled  the  glass  with  an  inky 
fluid  which  smelt  unpleasant,  and  said  to  Geoffrey : 


86   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  You  will  be  distinctly  better  the  moment  you  have 
taken  this ! " 

Geoffrey  took  the  goblet,  walked  apart  a  few  paces,  and, 
making  a  wry  face,  heroically  swallowed  the  bitter 
draught,  after  which  Mrs.  Savine,  who  beamed  upon  him, 
said: 

"  You  feel  quite  differently,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes ! "  asserted  Geoffrey,  truthfully,  longing  to  add 
that  he  had  felt  perfectly  well  before  and  had  now  to 
make  violent  efforts  to  overcome  his  nausea. 

His  heroism  had  its  reward,  however,  for  when  Helen 
returned  from  her  wheel  ride,  she  said :  "  1  was  really 
ashamed  when  my  aunt  insisted  on  doctoring  you,  but  you 
must  take  it  as  a  compliment,  because  she  only  prescribes 
fur  the  people  she  takes  a  fancy  to.  I  hope  the  dose  was 
not  particularly  nasty?" 

"  Sorry  for  you,  Thurston,  from  experience ! "  cried 
Thomas  Savine.  "  When  I  see  that  bottle,  I  just  vacate 
the  locality.  The  taste  isn't  the  worst  of  it  by  a  long 
way." 

That  night  Julius  Savine  called  Geoffrey  into  his  study, 
and,  spreading  a  roll  of  plans  before  him,  offered  terms, 
which  were  gladly  accepted,  for  the  construction  of  por- 
tions of  several  works.  Savine  said :  "  I  won't  worry 
much  about  references.  Your  work  speaks  for  itself,  and 
the  Roads  and  Trails  surveyor  has  been  talking  about 
you.  I'll  take  you,  as  you'll  have  to  take  me,  on  trust. 
I  keep  my  eye  on  rising  young  men,  and  I  have  been 
watching  you.  Besides,  the  man  who  could  master  an 
obstinate  bicycle  the  first  time  he  wrestled  with  one  must 
have  some  sense  of  his  own,  and  it  isn't  everybody  who 
would  have  swallowed  that  physic." 

"  I  could  not  well  avoid  doing  so,"  said  Geoffrey,  with 
a  rueful  smile. 

"  I  feel  I  owe  you  an  apology,  but  it's  my  sister-in- 
Liw's  one  weakness,  and  you  have  won  her  favor  for  the 
rest  of  your  natural  life,"  Savine  returned.     "You  have 


A    REST    BY    THE    WAY  87 

had  several  distinguished  fellow-sufferers,  including 
provincial  representatives  and  railroad  directors,  for  to 
my  horror  she  physicked  a  very  famous  one  the  last  time 
he  came.  He  did  not  suffer  with  your  equanimity.  In 
fact,  he  was  almost  uncivil,  and  said  to  me,  '  If  the  secre- 
tary hadn't  sent  off  your  trestle  contract,  I  should  urge 
the  board  to  reconsider  it.  Did  you  ask  me  here  that 
your  relatives  might  poison  me,  Savine?'" 

Geoffrey  laughed,  and  his  host  added: 

"  I  want  to  talk  over  a  good  many  details  with  you, 
and  dare  say  you  deserve  a  holiday — I  know  I  do — so  I 
shall  retain  you  here  for  a  week,  at  least.  I  take  your 
consent  for  granted;  it's  really  necessary." 


CHAPTEE    IX 

GEOFFREY   STANDS  FIRM 

Geoffrey  Thurston  possessed  a  fine  constitution,  and,  in 
spite  of  Mrs.  Savine's  treatment  and  her  husband's  pre- 
dictions, rose  refreshed  and  vigorous  on  the  morning  that 
followed  his  struggle  with  the  bicycle.  It  was  a  glorious 
morning,  and  when  breakfast  was  over  he  enjoyed  the 
unusual  luxury  of  lounging  under  the  shadow  of  a  cedar 
on  the  lawn,  where  he  breathed  in  the  cool  breeze  which 
rippled  the  sparkling  straits.  Hitherto,  he  had  risen  with 
the  sun  to  begin  a  day  of  toil  and  anxiety  and  this  brief 
glimpse  of  a  life  of  ease,  with  the  pleasures  of  congenial 
companionship,  was  as  an  oasis  in  the  desert  to  him. 

"  A  few  days  will  be  as  much  as  is  good  for  me,"  he 
told  himself  with  a  sigh.  "  In  the  meantime  hard  work 
and  short  commons  are  considerably  more  appropriate,  but 
I  shall  win  the  right  to  all  these  things  some  day,  if  my 
strength  holds  out." 

His  forehead  wrinkled,  his  eyes  contracted,  and  he 
stared  straight  before  him,  seeing  neither  the  luminous 
green  of  the  maples  nor  the  whispering  cedars,  but  far 
off  in  the  misty  future  a  golden  possibility,  which,  if  well 
worth  winning,  must  be  painfully  earned.  His  reverie 
was  broken  suddenly. 

"  Are  your  thoughts  very  serious  this  morning,  Mr. 
Thurston?"  a  clear  voice  inquired,  and  the  most  alluring 
of  the  visions  he  had  conjured  up  stood  before  him,  losing 
nothing  by  the  translation  into  material  flesh.  Helen 
►Savine  had  halted  under  the  cedar.  In  soft  clinging 
draperies  of  white  and  cream,  she  was  a  charming  reality. 

"I'm  afraid  they  were,"  Geoffrey  answered,  and  Helen 
laughed  musically. 

88 


GEOFFREY    STANDS    FIRM  89 

"  One  would  fancy  that  you  took  life  too  much  in 
earnest,"  she  said.  "  It  is  fortunately  impossible  either 
to  work  or  to  pile  up  money  forever,  and  a  holiday  is  good 
for  everybody.  I  am  going  down  to  White  Eock  Cove  to 
see  if  my  marine  garden  is  as  beautiful  as  it  used  to  be. 
Would  you  care  to  inspect  it  and  carry  this  basket  for 
me?" 

Thurston  showed  his  pleasure  almost  too  openly. 
They  chatted  lightly  on  many  subjects  as  they  walked  to- 
gether, knee-deep,  at  times,  among  scarlet  wine-berries, 
and  the  delicate  green  and  ebony  of  maidenhair  fern. 
The  scents  and  essence  of  summer  hung  heavy  in  the  air. 
Shafts  of  golden  sunlight,  piercing  the  somber  canopy  of 
the  forest  isles,  touched,  and,  it  seemed  to  Geoffrey, 
etherealized,  his  companion.  The  completeness  of  his 
enjoyment  troubled  the  man,  and  presently  he  lapsed  into 
silence.  All  this  appeared  too  good,  too  pleasant,  he 
feared,  to  last. 

"  Do  you  know  that  you  have  not  answered  my  last 
question,  nor  spoken  a  word  for  the  last  ten  minutes  ?  " 
inquired  Helen  with  a  smile,  at  length.  "  Have  these 
woods  no  charm  for  you,  or  are  you  regretting  the  cigar- 
box  beneath  the  cedar  ?  " 

Geoffrey  turned  towards  her,  and  there  was  a  momen- 
tary flash  in  his  eyes  as  he  answered : 

"  You  must  forgive  me.  Keen  enjoyment  often  blunts 
the  edge  of  speech,  and  I  was  wishing  that  this  walk 
through  the  cool,  green  stillness  might  last  forever." 

Afraid  that  he  might  have  said  too  much,  he  ceased 
speaking  abruptly,  and  then,  after  the  fashion  of  one  un- 
skilled in  tricks  of  speech,  proceeded  to  remedy  one 
blunder  by  committing  another. 

"  It  reminds  me  of  the  evenings  at  Graham's  ranch. 
There  can  surely  be  no  sunsets  in  the  world  to  equal 
those  that  flame  along  the  snows  of  British  Columbia, 
and  you  will  remember  how,  together,  we  watched  them 
burn  and  fade." 


90       THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD   VALLEY 

It  was  an  unfortunate  reference,  for  now  and  then 
Helen  had  recalled  that  period  with  misgivings.  Cut  off 
from  all  association  with  persons  of  congenial  tastes,  she 
had  not  only  found  the  man's  society  interesting,  but  she 
had  allowed  herself  to  sink  into  an  indefinite  state  of 
companionship  with  him.  In  the  mountain  solitude,  such 
camaraderie  had  seemed  perfectly  natural,  but  it  was  im- 
possible under  different  circumstances.  It  was  only  on  the 
last  occasion  that  he  had  ever  hinted  at  a  continuance  of 
this  intimacy,  but  she  had  not  forgotten  the  rash  speech. 
Had  the  recollections  been  all  upon  her  own  side  she  might 
have  permitted  a  partial  renewal  of  the  companionship, 
but  she  became  forbidding  at  once  when  Geoffrey  ventured 
to  remind  her  of  it. 

"  Yes/'  she  said  reflectively.  "  The  sunsets  were  often 
impressive,  but  we  are  all  of  us  unstable,  and  what  pleases 
us  at  one  time  may  well  prove  tiresome  at  another.  If 
that  experience  were  repeated  I  should  very  possibly  grow 
sadly  discontented  at  Graham's  ranch." 

Geoffrey  was  not  only  shrewd  enough  to  comprehend 
that,  if  Miss  Savine  unbent  during  a  summer  holiday  in 
the  wilderness,  it  did  not  follow  that  she  would  always  do 
so,  but  he  felt  that  he  deserved  the  rebuke.  He  had,  how- 
ever, learned  patience  in  Canada,  and  was  content  to  bide 
his  time,  so  he  answered  good-humoredly  that  such  a 
result  might  well  be  possible.  They  were  silent  until 
they  halted  where  the  hillside  fell  sharply  to  the  verge  of 
a  cliff.  Far  down  below  Thurston  could  see  the  white 
pebbles  shine  through  translucent  water,  and  with  pro- 
fessional instincts  aroused,  he  dubiously  surveyed  the 
slope  to  the  head  of  the  crag. 

Julius  Savine,  or  somebody  under  his  orders,  had  con- 
structed a  zig-zag  pathway  which  wound  down  between 
small  maples  and  clusters  of  wine-berries  shimmering  like 
blood-drops  among  their  glossy  leaves.  In  places  the 
pathway  was  underpinned  with  timber  against  the  side  of 
an  almost  sheer  descent,  and  he  noticed  that  one  could 


GEOFFREY    STANDS    FIRM  91 

have  dropped  a  vertical  line  from  the  fish-hawk,  which 
hung  poised  a  few  feet  outside  one  angle,  into  the  water. 
They  descended  cautiously  to  the  first  sharp  bend,  and 
here  Geoffrey  turned  around  in  advance  of  his  companion. 
"  Do  you  mind  telling  me  how  long  it  is  since  you  or 
anybody  else  has  used  this  path,  Miss  Savine?"  he  in- 
quired. 

"I  came  up  this  way  last  autumn,  and  think  hardly 
any  other  person  has  used  it  since.  But  why  do  you 
ask  ?  "  was  the  reply. 

"  I  fancied  so !  "  Geoffrey  lapsed  instinctively  into  his 
brusque,  professional  style  of  comment.  "  Poor  system 
of  underpinning,  badly  fixed  yonder.  I  am  afraid  you 
must  find  some  other  way  down  to  the  beach  this  morn- 
ing." 

It  was  long  since  Helen  had  heard  anybody  apply  the 
word  "  must "  to  herself.  As  Julius  Savine's  only 
daughter,  most  of  her  wishes  had  been  immediately- 
gratified,  while  the  men  she  met  vied  with  one  another 
in  paying  her  homage.  In  addition  to  this,  her  father, 
in  whose  mechanical  abilities  she  had  supreme  faith,  had 
constructed  that  pathway  especially  for  her  pleasure.  So 
for  several  reasons  her  pride  took  fire,  and  she  answered 
coldly :  "  The  path  is  perfectly  safe.  My  father  himself 
watched  the  greater  portion  of  its  building." 

"  It  was  safe  once,  no  doubt,"  answered  Geoffrey, 
slightly  puzzled  as  to  how  he  had  offended  her,  but  still 
resolute.  "  The  rains  of  last  winter,  however,  have  washed 
out  much  of  the  surface  soil,  leaving  bare  parts  of  the 
rock  beneath,  and  the  next  angle  yonder  is  positively 
dangerous.     Can  we  not  go  around  ?  " 

"  Only  by  the  head  of  the  valley,  two  miles  away  at 
least,"  Helen's  tone  remained  the  reverse  of  cordial.  *  I 
have  climbed  both  in  the  Selkirk's  and  the  Coast  Range, 
and  to  anyone  with  a  clear  head,  even  in  the  most  slippery 
places,  there  cannot  be  any  real  danger !  " 

"  I  regret  that  I  cannot  agree  with  you.     I  devoutly 


92   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

wish  I  could,"  said  Geoffrey,  uneasily.     "  No !  you  must 
please  go  no  further,  Miss  Savine." 

The  girl's  eyes  glittered  resentfully.  A  flush  crept  into 
the  center  of  either  cheek  as  she  walked  towards  him. 
Though  he  did  not  intend  it,  there  was  perhaps  too 
strong  a  suggestion  of  command  in  his  attitude,  and  when 
Helen  came  abreast  of  him,  he  laid  a  hand  restrainingly 
upon  her  arm.  She  shook  it  off,  not  with  ill-humored 
petulance,  for  Helen  was  never  ungraceful  nor  un- 
dignified, but  with  a  disdain  that  hurt  the  man  far  more 
than  anger.  Nevertheless,  knowing  that  he  was  right,  he 
was  determined  that  she  should  run  no  risk.  Letting  his 
hand  swing  at  his  side,  he  walked  a  few  paces  before  her, 
and  then  turned  in  a  narrow  portion  of  the  path  where 
two  people  could  not  pass  abreast. 

"  Please  listen  to  me,  Miss  Savine,"  he  began.  "  I  am 
an  engineer,  and  I  can  see  that  the  bend  yonder  is  danger- 
ous. I  cannot,  therefore,  consent  to  allow  you  to  venture 
upon  it.  How  should  I  face  your  father  if  anything  un- 
fortunate happened  ?  " 

"  My  father  saw  the  path  built,"  repeated  Helen.  "  He 
also  is  an  engineer,  and  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  skill- 
ful in  the  Dominion.  I  am  not  used  to  being  thwarted 
for  inadequate  reasons.     Let  me  pass." 

Geoffrey  stood  erect  and  immovable.  "  I  am  very  sorry, 
Miss  Savine,  that,  in  this  one  instance,  I  cannot  obey 
you,"  he  said. 

There  was  an  awkward  silence,  and  while  they  looked 
at  each  other,  Helen  felt  her  breath  come  faster.  Re- 
treating a  few  paces  she  seated  herself  upon  a  boulder, 
thus  leaving  the  task  of  terminating  an  unpleasant  posi- 
tion to  Geoffrey,  who  was  puzzled  for  a  time.  Finally, 
an  inspiration  dawned  upon  Thurston,  who  said : 

"  Perhaps  you  would  feci  the  disappointment  less  if  I 
convinced  you  by  ocular  demonstration." 

Walking  cautiously  forward  to  the  dangerous  angle, 
he  grasped  a  broken  edge  of  the  rock  outcrop  about  which 


GEOFFREY    STANDS    FIRM  93 

the  path  twisted,  and  pressed  hard  with  both  feet  upon 
the  edge  of  the  narrow  causeway.  It  was  a  hazardous 
experiment,  and  the  result  of  it  startling,  for  there  was  a 
crash  and  a  rattle,  and  Geoffrey  remained  clinging  to  the 
rock,  with  one  foot  in  a  cranny,  while  a  mass  of  earth 
and  timber  slid  down  the  steep-pitched  slope  and  disap- 
peared over  the  face  of  the  crag.  A  hollow  splashing 
rose  suggestively  from  far  beneath  the  rock.  Helen,  who 
had  been  too  angry  to  notice  the  consideration  for  herself 
implied  in  the  man's  last  speech,  turned  her  eyes  upon 
the  ground  and  did  not  raise  them  until,  after  swinging 
himself  carefully  onto  firmer  soil,  Geoffrey  approached 
her.  "  I  hope,  after  what  you  have  seen,  you  will  forgive 
me  for  preventing  your  descent,"  he  said. 

"  You  used  considerable  violence,  and  I  am  still  un- 
convinced," Helen  declared,  rising  as  she  spoke.  "  In 
any  case,  you  have  at  least  made  further  progress  im- 
possible, and  we  may  as  well  retrace  our  steps.  No;  I 
do  not  wish  to  hear  any  more  upon  the  subject.  It  is 
really  not  worth  further  discussion." 

They  turned  back  together.  When  the  ascent  grew 
steeper,  Geoffrey  held  out  his  hand.  Instead  of  accepting 
the  proffered  assistance  as  she  had  done  when  they  de- 
scended, Helen  apparently  failed  to  notice  the  hand,  and 
the  homeward  journey  was  not  pleasant  to  either  of  them. 
Helen  did  not  parade  her  displeasure,  but  Geoffrey  was 
sensible  of  it,  and,  never  being  a  fluent  speaker  upon  casual 
subjects,  he  was  not  successful  in  his  conversational 
efforts.  When  at  last  they  reached  the  villa,  he  shook  his 
shoulders  disgustedly  as  he  recalled  some  of  his  inane 
remarks. 

"  It  was  hardly  a  wonder  she  was  silent.  Heavens, 
what  prompted  me  to  drivel  in  that  style?"  he  reflected. 
"  It  was  cruelly  unfortunate,  but  I  could  not  let  her  risk 
her  precious  safety  over  that  confounded  path ! " 

At  luncheon  it  happened  that  Mrs.  Savine  said:  "I 
saw   you   going  towards    the   White   Rock   Cove,    Helen. 


94   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

Very  interesting  place,  isn't  it,  Mr.  Thurston?  But  you 
brought  none  of  that  lovely  weed  back  with  you." 

"  Did  you  notice  how  I  had  the  path  graded  as  you  went 
down  ? "  asked  Savine,  and  Thurston  saw  that  Helen's 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  him.  The  expression  of  the  eyes 
aroused  his  indignation  because  the  glance  was  not  a 
challenge,  but  a  warning  that  whatever  his  answer  might 
be,  the  result  would  be  indifferent  to  her.  He  was  hurt 
that  she  should  suppose  for  a  moment  that  he  would  profit 
by  this  opportunity. 

"We  were  not  able  to  descend  the  whole  way,"  he 
replied.  "  Last  winter's  rains  have  loosened  the  surface 
soil,  and  one  angle  of  the  path  slipped  bodily  away.  Very 
fortunately  I  was  some  distance  in  advance  of  Miss 
Savine,  and  there  was  not  the  slightest  danger.  Might  I 
suggest  socketed  timbers?  The  occurrence  reminds  me 
of  a  curious  accident  to  the  railroad  track  in  the  Rockies." 

Helen  did  not  glance  at  the  speaker  again,  for  Savine 
asked  no  awkward  questions.  But  Thurston  saw  no  more 
of  her  during  the  afternoon.  That  evening  he  sought 
Savine  in  his  study. 

"  You  have  all  been  very  kind  to  me,"  he  said.  "  In 
fact,  so  much  so  that  I  feel,  if  I  stay  any  longer  among 
you,  I  si i all  never  be  content  to  rough  it  when  I  go  back 
to  the  bush.  This  is  only  too  pleasant,  but,  being  a  poor 
man  with  a  living  to  earn,  it  would  be  more  consistent  if 
I  recommenced  my  work.  Which  of  the  operations  should 
I  undertake  first  ?  " 

Savine  smiled  on  him  whimsically,  and  answered  with 
Western  directness: 

"  I  don't  know  whether  the  Roads  Surveyor  was  right 
or  wrong  when  he  said  that  you  were  not  always  over- 
civil.  See  here,  Thurston,  leaving  all  personal  amenities 
out  of  the  question,  I'm  inclined  to  figure  that  you  will  be 
of  use  to  me,  and  the  connection  also  will  help  you  con- 
siderably. My  paid  representatives  arc  not  always  so 
energetic  as  they  might  be.     So  if  you  are  tired  of  High 


GEOFFREY    STANDS   FIRM  95 

Maples  you  can  start  in  with  the  rock-cutting  on  the  new 
wagon  road.  It  is  only  a  detail,  but  I  want  it  finished, 
and,  as  the  cars  would  bring  you  down  in  two  hours'  time, 
I'll  expect  you  to  put  in  the  week-end  here,  talking  over 
more  important  things  with  me." 

Thurston  left  the  house  next  morning.  He  did  not 
see  Helen  to  say  good-by  to  her,  for  she  had  ridden  out 
into  the  forest  before  he  departed  from  High  Maples. 
Helen  admitted  to  herself  that  she  was  interested  in 
Thurston,  the  more  so  because  he  alone,  of  all  the  men 
whom  she  had  met,  had  successfully  resisted  her  will. 
But  she  shrank  from  him,  and  though  convinced  that  his 
action  in  preventing  her  from  going  down  the  pathway 
had  been  justified,  she  could  not  quite  forgive  him. 


CHAPTER    X 

savine's  confidence 

Despite  his  employer's  invitation  Thurston  did  not  re- 
turn to  High  Maples  at  the  end  of  the  week.  The  rock- 
cutting  engrossed  all  his  attention,  and  he  was  conscious 
that  it  might  be  desirable  to  allow  Miss  Savine's  indigna- 
tion to  cool.  He  had  thought  of  her  often  since  the  day 
that  she  gave  him  the  dollar,  and,  at  first  still  smarting 
under  the  memory  of  another  woman's  treachery,  had 
tried  to  analyze  his  feelings  regarding  her.  The  result 
was  not  very  definite,  though  he  decided  that  he  had  never 
really  loved  Millicent,  and  was  very  certain  now  that  she 
had  wasted  little  affection  upon  him.  One  evening  at 
Graham's  ranch  when  they  had  stood  silently  together 
under  the  early  stars,  he  had  become  suddenly  conscious 
of  the  all-important  fact,  that  his  life  would  be  empty 
without  Helen  Savine,  and  that  of  all  the  women  whom 
he  had  met  she  alone  could  guide  and  raise  him  towards 
a  higher  plane. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Geoffrey  Thurston  that  the 
determination  to  win  her  in  spite  of  every  barrier  of 
wealth  and  rank  came  with  the  revelation,  and  that,  at 
the  same  time  counting  the  cost,  he  realized  that  he  must 
first  bid  boldly  for  a  name  and  station,  and  with  all 
patience  bide  his  time.  A  more  cold-blooded  man 
might  have  abandoned  the  quest  as  hopeless  at  the  first, 
and  one  more  impulsive  might  have  ruined  his  chances  by 
rashness,  but  Geoffrey  united  the  characteristics  of  the 
reckless  Thurstons  with  his  mother's  cool  North  Country 
canninoss. 

It  therefore  happened  that  Savine,  irritated  by  a  jour- 
nalistic reference  to  the  tardiness  of  that  season's  road- 

96 


SAVINE'S    CONFIDENCE  97 

making,  went  down  to  see  how  the  work  entrusted  to 
Geoffrey  was  progressing.  He  was  accompanied  hy  his 
daughter,  who  desired  to  visit  the  wife  of  a  prosperous 
rancher.  It  was  towards  noon  of  a  hot  day  when  the}r 
alighted  from  their  horses  in  the  mouth  of  a  gorge  that 
wound  inland  from  the  margin  of  a  lake.  No  breath  of 
wind  ruffled  the  steely  surface  of  the  lake.  White 
boulder  and  somber  fir  branch  slept  motionless,  reflected 
in  the  crystal  depths  of  the  water,  and  lines  of  great  black 
cedars,  that  kept  watch  from  the  ridge  above,  stood  mute 
beneath  the  sun. 

As  they  picked  their  path  carefully  through  the  debris 
littering  an  ugly  rent  in  the  rock,  where  perspiring  men 
were  toiling  hard  with  pick  and  drill,  they  came  upon 
Thurston  before  he  was  aware  of  them.  Geoffrey  stood 
with  a  heavy  hammer  in  his  hand  critically  surveying  a 
somewhat  seedy  man  who  was  just  then  offering  his  serv- 
ices. Savine,  who  had  a  sense  of  humor,  was  interested 
in  the  scene,  and  said  to  his  daughter :  "  Thurston's 
busv.  We'll  just  wait  until  he's  through  with  that  fel- 
low." 

Geoffrey,  being  ignorant  of  their  presence,  decided  that 
the  applicant,  who  said  that  he  was  an  Englishman,  and 
used  to  estimating  quantities,  would  be  of  little  service; 
but  he  seldom  refused  to  assist  a  stranger  in  distress. 

"  I  do  all  the  draughting  and  figuring  work  myself," 
he  said.  "  However,  if  you  are  hard  up  you  can  earn  two 
dollars  a  day  wheeling  broken  rock  until  you  find  some- 
thing better." 

The  man  turned  away,  apparently  not  delighted  at  the 
prospect  of  wheeling  rock,  and  Geoffrey  faced  about  to 
greet  the  spectators. 

"  I  don't  fancy  you'll  get  much  work  out  of  that  fel- 
low," observed  Savine. 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  see  you  so  soon,  and  am  pleasantly 
surprised,"  said  Geoffrey,  who,  warned  by  something  in 
Helen's  face,  restrained  the  answer  he  was  about  to  make. 


98   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  You  will  be  tired  after  your  rough  ride,  and  it  is  very 
hot  out  here.  If  you  will  come  into  my  office  tent  I  can 
offer  you  some  slight  refreshment." 

Helen  noticed  every  appointment  of  the  double  tent 
which  was  singularly  neat  and  trim.  Its  flooring  of 
packed  twigs  gave  out  a  pleasant  aromatic  odor.  The 
instruments  scattered  among  the  papers  on  the  maple 
desk  were  silver-mounted.  The  tall,  dusty  man  in  toil- 
stained  jean  produced  thin  glasses,  into  which  he  poured 
mineral  waters  and  California  wine.  A  tin  of  English 
biscuits  was  passed  with  the  cooling  drinks.  Thurston 
was  a  curious  combination,  she  fancied,  for,  having  seen 
him  covered  with  the  grime  of  hard  toil  she  now  beheld 
him  in  a  new  role — that  of  host. 

They  chatted  for  half-an-hour,  and  then  there  was  an 
interruption,  for  the  young  Englishman,  who  had  grown 
tired  of  wheeling  the  barrow,  stood  outside  the  tent  de- 
manding to  see  his  employer.  Geoffrey  strode  out  into 
the  sunshine. 

The  stranger  said  that  he  had  a  backache,  besides 
blisters  on  his  hands,  and  that  wheeling  a  heavy  barrow  did 
not  agree  with  him.  He  added,  with  an  easy  assurance  that 
drew  a  frown  to  the  contractor's  face,  "It's  a  consider- 
able come-down  for  me  to  have  to  work  hard  at  all,  and 
I  was  told  you  were  generally  good  to  a  distressed  country- 
man.    Can't  you  really  give  me  anything  easier?" 

"  I  try  to  be  helpful  to  my  countrymen  when  they're 
worth  it,"  answered  Geoffrey,  dryly.  "  Would  you  care  to 
hold  a  rock  drill,  or  swing  a  sledge  instead  ?  " 

"  I  hardly  think  so,"  he  returned  dubiously.  "  You 
see,  I  haven't  been  trained  to  manual  labor,  and  I'm  not 
so  strong  as  you  might  think  by  looking  at  me."  Geoffrey 
lost  lii's  temper. 

"The  drill  might  blister  your  fingers,  I  dare  say,"  he 
admitted.  "I'm  afraid  you  are  too  good  for  this  rude 
country,  and  I  have  no  use  for  yon.  I  could  afford  to 
be  decent?     Perhaps  so,  but  I  earn  my  money  with  con- 


SAVINE'S    CONFIDENCE  99 

siderably  more  effort  than  you  seem  willing  to  make. 
The  cook  will  give  you  dinner  with  the  other  men  to-day ; 
then  you  can  resume  your  search  for  an  easy  billet.  We 
have  no  room  in  this  camp  for  idlers." 

Savine  chuckled,  but  Helen,  who  had  a  weakness  for 
philanthropy,  and  small  practical  experience  of  its 
economic  aspect,  flushed  with  indignation,  pitying  the 
stranger  and  resenting  what  she  considered  Thurston's 
brutality.  Her  father  rose,  when  the  contractor  came  in, 
to  say  that  he  wanted  to  look  around  the  workings.  He 
suggested  that  Helen  should  remain  somewhere  in  the 
shade.  When  Thurston  had  placed  a  canvas  lounge  for 
her,  outside  the  tent,  the  girl  turned  towards  him  a  look 
of  severe  disapproval.  "  Why  did  you  speak  to  that  poor 
man  so  cruelly  ?  "  she  asked.  "  Perhaps  I  am  transgress- 
ing, but  it  seems  to  me  that  one  living  here  in  comfort, 
even  comparative  luxury,  might  be  a  little  more  consid- 
erate towards  those  less  fortunate." 

"  Please  remember  that  I  was  once  what  you  term  '  less 
fortunate'  myself,"  Geoffrey  reminded  Helen,  who  an- 
swered quickly,  "  One  would  almost  fancy  it  was  you 
who  had  forgotten." 

"  On  the  contrary,  I  am  not  likely  to  forget  how  hard 
it  was  for  me  to  earn  my  first  fee  here  in  this  new  coun- 
try," he  declared,  looking  straight  at  her.  "  I  was  glad 
to  work  up  to  my  waist  in  ice-water  to  make,  at  first, 
scarcely  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  day.  One  must  exercise 
discretion,  Miss  Savine,  and  that  man,  so  far  as  I  could 
see,  had  no  desire  to  work." 

It  was  a  pity  that  Geoffrey  did  not  explain  that  he 
meant  Bransome's  payment  by  the  words  "  my  first  fee," 
for  Helen  had  never  forgotten  how  she  had  failed  in  the 
attempt  to  double  the  amount  for  which  he  had  bar- 
gained. She  had  considered  him  destitute  of  all  the 
gentler  graces,  but  now  she  was  surprised  that  he  should 
apparently  attempt  to  wound  her. 

"  Is  it  right  to  judge  so  hastily  ?  "  she  inquired,  master- 


100   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

ing  her  indignation  with  difficulty.  "  The  poor  man  may 
not  be  fit  for  hard  work — I  think  he  said  so — and  I  can- 
not help  growing  wrathful  at  times  when  I  hear  the 
stories  which  reach  me  of  commercial  avarice  and 
tyranny."' 

Geoffrey  blew  a  silver  whistle,  which  summoned  the 
foreman  to  whom  he  gave  an  order. 

"  Your  protege  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  proving 
his  willingness  to  be  useful  by  helping  the  cook/'  Thurs- 
ton said  with  a  smile  at  Helen. 

"  Why  did  you  do  that — now  ?  "  she  asked,  uncertain 
whether  to  be  gratified  or  angry,  and  Geoffrey  answered, 
"  Because  I  fancied  it  would  meet  with  your  approval." 

"  Then,"  declared  Helen  looking  past  him,  "  if  that 
was  your  only  motive,  you  were  mistaken." 

The  conversation  dragged  after  that,  and  they  were 
glad  when  Savine  returned  to  escort  his  daughter  part  of 
the  way  to  the  ranch.  When  he  rode  back  into  camp  alone 
an  hour  later,  he  dismounted  with  difficulty,  and  his  face 
was  grav  as  he  reeled  into  the  tent. 

"  Give  me  some  wine,  Thurston — brandy  if  you  have 
it,  and  don't  ask  questions.  I  shall  be  better  in  five 
minutes — I  hope,"  he  gasped. 

Geoffrey  had  no  brandy,  but  he  broke  the  neck  off  a 
bottle  of  his  best  substitute,  and  Savine  lay  very  still 
on  a  canvas  lounge,  gripping  one  of  its  rails  hard  for 
long,  anxious  minutes  before  he  said,  "  It  is  over,  and  I 
am  myself  again.     Hope  I  didn't  scare  you!  " 

"I  was  uneasy,"  Thurston  replied.  "Dare  I  ask,  sir, 
what  the  trouble  was?"  Savine,  who  evidently  had  not 
quite  recovered,  looked  steadily  at  the  speaker.     "I'll  tell 

<u  in  confidence,  but  neither  my  daughter  nor  my  rivals 

must  hear  of  this,"  he  said  at  length.     "It  is  part  of  the 

rice  I  paid  for  success.     I  have  an  affection  of  the  heart, 

which  may   snuff  mo  out  at    any  moment,  or  leave  me 

years  of  carefully-guarded  life." 

"  I  don't  quite  understand  you,  but  perhaps   I  ought  to 


SAVINE'S    CONFIDENCE  101 

suggest  that  you  sit  still  and  keep  quiet  for  a  time/' 
Geoffrey  replied  and  Savine  answered,  "  No.  Save  for  a 
slight  faintness  I  am  as  well  as — I  usually  am.  When 
one  gets  more  than  his  due  share  of  this  world's  good 
things,  he  must  generally  pay  for  it — see  ?  If  you  don't, 
remember  as  an  axiom  that  one  can  buy  success  too  dearly. 
Meantime,  and  to  come  back  to  this  question's  every-day 
aspect,  I  want  your  promise  to  say  nothing  of  what  you 
have  seen.  Helen  must  be  spared  anxiety,  and  I  must 
still  pose  as  a  man  without  a  weakness,  whatever  it  costs 
me." 

"  You  have  my  word,  sir ! "  said  Geoffrey,  and  Savine, 
who  nodded,  appeared  satisfied. 

"  As  I  said  before,  I  can  trust  you,  Thurston,  and 
though  I've  many  interested  friends  I'm  a  somewhat  lonely 
man.  I  don't  know  why  I  should  tell  you  this,  it  isn't 
quite  like  me,  but  the  seizure  shook  me,  and  I  just  feel  that 
way.  Besides,  in  return  for  your  promise,  I  owe  you  the 
confidence.  Give  me  some  more  wine,  and  I'll  try  to  tell 
you  how  I  spent  my  strength  in  gaining  what  is  called 
success." 

u  I  won  by  hard  work ;  started  life  as  a  bridge  car- 
penter, and  starved  myself  to  buy  the  best  text-books," 
Savine  began  presently.  "Bid  always  for  something  bet- 
ter than  what  I  had,  and  generally  got  it;  ran  through  a 
big  bridge-building  contract  at  twenty-five,  and  fell  in 
love  with  my  daughter's  mother  when  I'd  finished  it.  I 
had  risen  at  a  bound  from  working  foreman — she  was  the 
daughter  of  one  of  the  proudest  poverty-stricken  French- 
men in  old  Quebec.  Well,  it  would  make  a  long  story, 
but  I  married  her,  and  she  taught  me  much  worth  know- 
ing, besides  helping  me  on  until,  when  I  had  all  my  sav- 
ings locked  up  in  apparently  profitless  schemes,  I  tried 
for  a  great  bridge  contract.  I  also  got  it,  but  there  was 
political  jobbery,  and  the  opposition,  learning  from  my 
rival  how  I  was  fixed,  required  a  big  deposit  before  the 
agreement  was  signed." 


102   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

Savine  paused  a  full  minute,  and  helped  himself  to 
more  wine  before  he  proceeded.  "The  deposit  was  to  be 
paid  in  fourteen  days  from  the  time  I  got  the  notice,  or 
the  tender  would  be  advertised  for  again,  and  I  hadn't 
half  the  amount  handy.  I  couldn't  realize  on  my  posses- 
sions without  an  appalling  loss,  but  I  swore  I  would  hold 
on  to  that  contract,  and  I  did  it.  It  was  always  my  way 
to  pick  up  any  odd  information  I  could,  and  I  learned 
that  a  certain  mining  shaft  was  likely  to  strike  high-pay 
ore.  I  got  the  information  from  a  workman  who  left  the 
mine  to  serve  me,  so  I  caught  the  first  train,  made  a  long 
journey,  and  rode  over  a  bad  pass  to  reach  the  shaft. 
How  I  dealt  with  the  manager  doesn't  greatly  matter,  but 
though  I  neither  bribed  nor  threatened  him  he  showed  me 
what  I  wanted  to  see.  I  rode  back  over  pass  and  down 
moraine  through  blinding  snow,  went  on  without  rest  or 
sleep  to  the  city,  borrowed  what  I  could — I  wasn't  so  well 
known  then,  and  it  was  mighty  little — and  bought  up  as 
much  of  that  mine's  stock  on  margins  as  the  money  would 
cover.  The  news  was  being  held  back,  but  other  men 
were  buying  quietly.  Still — well,  they  had  to  sleep  and 
get  their  dinners,  and  I,  who  could  do  without  either, 
came  out  ahead  of  them.  Market  went  mad  in  a  day  or 
two  over  the  news  of  the  crushing.  I  sold  out  at  a 
tremendous  premium,  and  started  to  pay  my  deposit.  I 
did  it  in  person,  came  back  with  the  sealed  contract — 
hadn't  eaten  decently  or  slept  more  than  a  few  hours  in 
two  anxious  weeks — went  home  triumphant,  and  collapsed 
— as  I  did  not  long  ago — while  I  told  my  wife." 

There  was  silence  for  several  minutes  inside  the  tent. 
Then  Geoffrey  said,  "I  thank  you  for  your  confidence, 
sir,  and  will  respect  it,  but  even  yet  I  am  not  quite  certain 
why,  considering  that  you  held  my  unconditional  promise, 
you  gave  it  me." 

"As  I  said  before,  I  felt  like  it,"  answered  Savine. 
"  Still,  there's  generally  a  common-sense  reason  some- 
where for  what  I  do,  and  it  may  help  you  to  understand 


SAVINE'S    CONFIDENCE  103 

me.  I  heard  of  you  at  your  first  beginning.  I  figured 
that  you  were  taking  hold  as  I  had  done  before  you  and 
thought  I  might  have  some  use  for  a  man  like  you. 
Perhaps  I'll  tell  you  more,  if  we  both  live  long  enough, 
some  day." 

It  was  in  the  cool  of  the  evening  that  Savine  and  his 
daughter,  who  had  been  waiting  at  a  house  far  down  the 
trail,  rode  back  towards:  the  railroad,  leaving  Geoffrey 
puzzled  at  the  uncertain  ways  of  women. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  my  new  assistant,  Helen  ? " 
asked  Savine.  "  You  generally  have  a  quick  judgment, 
and  you  haven't  told  me  yet." 

"  I  hardly  know,"  was  the  answer.  "  He  is  certainly  a 
man  of  strong  character,  but  there  is  something  about  him 
which  repels  one — something  harsh,  almost  sinister, 
though  this  would,  of  course,  in  no  way  affect  his  business 
relations  with  you.  For  instance,  you  saw  how  he  lives, 
and  yet  he  turned  away  a  countryman  who  appeared  desti- 
tute and  hungry." 

Savine  laughed.  "  You  did  not  see  how  he  lived.  The 
good  things  in  his  tent  were  part  of  his  business  property, 
handy  when  some  mining  manager,  who  may  want  work 
done,  comes  along — or  perhaps  brought  in  by  mounted 
messenger  for  Miss  Savine's  special  benefit.  Thurston 
lives  on  pork  and  potatoes,  and  eats  them  with  his  men. 
The  fellow  you  pitied  was  a  lazy  tramp.  It  mayn't  greatly 
matter  to  you  or  me,  but  Thurston  will  do  great  tilings 
some  day." 

"  It  is  perhaps  possible,"  assented  Helen.  "  The  men 
who  are  hard  and  cruel  are  usually  successful.  You  have 
rather  a  weakness,  father,  for  growing  enthusiastic  over 
what  you  call  a  live  assistant.  You  have  sometimes  been 
mistaken,  remember." 


CHAPTER    XI 

AN   INSPIRATION 

More  than  twelve  months  had  passed  since  Thurston's 
first  visit  to  High  Maples,  when  he  stood  one  morning 
gazing  abstractedly  down  a  misty  valley.  Below  him  a 
small  army  of  men  toiled  upon  the  huge  earth  embank- 
ments, which,  half-hidden  by  thin  haze,  divided  the  river 
from  the  broad  swamps  behind  it.  But  Geoffrey  scarcely 
saw  the  men.  He  was  looking  back  upon  the  events  of 
the  past  year,  and  was  oblivious  to  the  present.  He  had 
made  rapid  progress  in  his  profession  and  had  won  the 
esteem  of  Julius  Savine;  but  he  felt  uncertain  as  to  how 
far  he  had  succeeded  in  placating  Miss  Savine.  On  some 
of  his  brief  visits  to  High  Maples,  Helen  had  treated  him 
with  a  kindliness  which  sent  him  away  exultant.  At 
other  times,  however,  she  appeared  to  avoid  his  company. 
Presently  dismissing  the  recollection  of  the  girl  with  a 
sigh,  Geoffrey  glanced  at  the  strip  of  paper  in  his  hand. 
It  was  a  telegraphic  message  from  Savine,  and  ran: 

"  Want  you  and  all  the  ideas  you  can  bring  along  at 
the  chalet  to-morrow.  Expect  deputation  and  interesting 
evening." 

Savine  had  undertaken  the  drainage  of  the  wide  valley, 
which  the  rising  waters  periodically  turned  into  a  morass, 
and  had  sublet  to  Geoffrey  a  part  of  the  work.  Each  of 
the  neighboring  ranchers  who  would  benefit  by  the  under- 
taking had  promised  a  pro-rata  payment,  and  the  Crown 
authorities  had  conditionally  granted  to  Savine  a  percent- 
age of  all  the  unoccupied  land  he  could  reclaim.  Previous 
operations    had  not,  however,  proved  successful,  for  the 

104 


AN    INSPIRATION  105 

snow-fed  river  breached  the  dykes,  and  the  leaders  of  a 
syndicate  with  an  opposition  scheme  were  not  only  sow- 
ing distrust  among  Savine's  supporters,  but  striving  to 
stir  up  political  controversy  over  the  concession. 

Geoffrey  did  not  agree  with  the  contractor  on  several 
important  points,  but  deferred  to  the  older  man's  judg- 
ment. He  had,  however,  already  made  his  mark,  and 
could  have  obtained  profitable  commissions  from  both 
mining  companies  and  the  smaller  municipalities,  had  he 
desired  them. 

While  Geoffrey  was  meditating,  the  mists  began  to  melt 
before  a  warm  breeze  from  the  Pacific.  Sliding  in  filmy 
wisps  athwart  the  climbing  pines,  they  rolled  clear  of  the 
river,  leaving  bare  two  huge  parallel  mounds,  between 
which  the  turbid  waters  ran.  Geoffrey,  surveying  the 
waste  of  tall  marsh  grasses  stretching  back  to  the  forest, 
knew  that  a  rich  reward  awaited  the  man  who  could  re- 
claim the  swamp.  He  was  reminded  of  his  first  venture, 
which  was  insignificant  compared  to  this  greater  one,  and 
as  suddenly  as  the  mists  had  melted,  the  uncertainty  in 
his  own  mind  concerning  Savine's  plan  vanished  too,  and 
he  saw  that  the  contractor  was  wrong.  What  he  had  done 
for  Bransome  on  a  minute  scale  must  be  done  here  on  a 
gigantic  one.  A  bold  man,  backed  with  capital,  might 
blast  a  pathway  for  the  waters  through  the  converging 
rocks  of  the  canon,  and,  without  the  need  of  costly  dykes, 
both  swamp  and  the  wide  blue  lake  at  the  end  of  the  val- 
ley would  be  left  dry  land.  He  stood  rigidly  still  for  ten 
minutes  while  his  heart  beat  fast.  Then  he  strode  hur- 
riedly towards  the  gap  in  the  ranges.  There  was  much  to 
do  before  he  could  obey  Savine's  summons. 

It  was  towards  the  close  of  that  afternoon  when  Julius 
Savine  lounged  on  the  veranda  of  a  wooden  hotel  for 
tourists,  which  was  built  in  a  gorge  of  savage  beauty.  In 
spite  of  all  that  modern  art  could  do,  the  building  looked 
raw  and  new,  out  of  place  among  the  immemorial  pines 
climbing  towards  snowy  heights  unsullied  by  the  presence 


106   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

of  man.  Helen,  who  sat  near  her  father,  glanced  at  him 
keenly  before  she  said: 

"  You  have  not  looked  well  all  day.  Is  it  the  hot 
weather,  or  are  you  troubled  about  the  conference  to- 
night ?  " 

Savine  at  first  made  no  reply.  The  furrows  deepened 
on  his  forehead,  and  Helen  felt  a  thrill  of  anxiety  as  she 
watched  him.  She  had  noticed  that  his  shoulders  were 
losing  their  squareness,  and  that  his  face  had  grown 
thin. 

"  I  must  look  worse  than  I  feel,"  he  declared  after  a 
little  while,  "  but,  though  there  is  nothing  to  worry  about, 
the  reclamation  scheme  is  a  big  one,  and  some  of  my 
rancher  friends  seem  to  have  grown  lukewarm  latterly. 
If  they  went  over  to  the  opposition,  the  plea  that  my 
workings  might  damage  their  property,  if  encouraged  by 
meddlesome  politicians,  would  seriously  hamper  me. 
Still,  I  shall  certainly  convince  them,  and  that  is  why  I 
am  receiving  the  deputation  to-night.  I  wish  Thurston 
had  come  in  earlier;  I  want  to  consult  with  him." 

"  What  has  happened  to  you?"  asked  Helen,  laying  her 
hand  affectionately  upon  his  arm.  "You  never  used  to 
listen  to  anybody's  opinions,  and  now  you  are  always 
consulting  Thurston.  Sometimes  I  fancy  you  ought  to 
give  up  your  business  before  it  wears  you  out.  After  all, 
you  have  not  known  Thurston  long." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  Savine  admitted,  and  when  he  looked  at 
her  Helen  became  interested  in  an  eagle,  which  hung 
poised  on  broad  wings  above  the  valley.  "  I  feel  older 
than  I  used  to,  and  may  quit  business  when  I  put  this 
contract  through.  It  is  big  enough  to  wind  up  with.  If 
I'd  known  Thurston  for  ages  I  couldn't  be  more  sure  of 
him.  1  am  a  little  disappointed  that  you  don't  like 
him." 

"  You  go  too  far."  Helen  still  concentrated  her  at- 
tention upon  the  dusky  speck  against  the  blue.  "I  have 
no  reason  for  disliking  Mr.  Thurston;  indeed,  I  do  not 


AN    INSPIRATION  107 

dislike  him  and  my  feeling  may  be  mere  jealousy.  You 
give — him — most  of  your  confidences  now,  and  I  should 
hate  anybody  who  divided  you  from  me." 

Savine  lifted  her  little  hand  into  his  own,  and  patted  it 
playfully  as  he  answered: 

"  You  need  never  fear  that.  Helen,  you  are  very  like 
your  mother  as  she  was  thirty  years  ago." 

There  was  a  sparkle  of  indignation  in  Helen's  eyes,  and 
a  suspicion  of  tell-tale  color  in  her  face.  She  remembered 
that,  when  he  first  met  her  mother,  her  father's  position 
much  resembled  Thurston's,  and  the  girl  wondered  if  he 
desired  to  remind  her  of  it. 

"  The  cars  are  in  sight.  Perhaps  I  had  better  see 
whether  the  hotel  people  are  ready  for  your  guests,"  she 
remarked  with  indifference. 

The  hotel  was  famous  for  its  cuisine,  ana  the  dinner 
which  followed  was,  for  various  reasons,  a  memorable  one, 
though  some  of  the  guests  appeared  distinctly  puzzled 
by  the  sequence  of  viands  and  liquors.  Still,  even  those 
who,  appreciating  the  change  from  leathery  venison  and 
grindstone  bread,  had  eaten  too  much  at  the  first  course, 
struggled  manfully  with  the  succeeding,  and  good  fellow- 
ship reigned  until  the  cloth  was  removed,  and  the  party 
prepared  to  discuss  business. 

Savine  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  the  gray  now  show- 
ing thickly  in  his  hair.  His  expression  was,  perhaps,  too 
languid,  for  one  of  his  guests  whispered  that  the  daring 
engineer  was  not  what  he  used  to  be.  The  man  glanced 
at  Thurston,  who  sat,  stalwart,  keen,  and  determined  of 
face,  beside  his  chief,  and  added,  "I  know  which  I'd 
sooner  run  up  against  now;  and  it  wouldn't  be  his  deputy, 
sub-contractor,  or  whatever  the  fellow  is." 

"  Finding  that  our  correspondence  was  using  up  no  end 
of  time  and  ink,  I  figured  it  would  be  better  for  us  to  talk 
things  over  together  comfortably,  and  as  some  of  you  come 
from  Vancouver,  and  some  from  round  the  lake,  this  place 
appeared   a   convenient   center,"   began   Savine.     "  Now, 


108   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

gentlemen,  I'm  ready  to  discuss  either  business  or  anything 
else  you  like." 

There  was  a  murmur,  and  the  guests  looked  at  one  an- 
other. They  were  a  somewhat  mixed  company — several 
speculators  from  the  cities,  two  credited  with  political  in- 
fluence; well-educated  Englishmen,  who  had  purchased 
land  in  the  hope  of  combining  sport  with  cattle  raising; 
and  wiry  axemen,  who  lived  in  rough  surroundings  while 
they  drove  their  clearings  further  into  the  forest,  field  bv 
field. 

"  Then  I'll  start  right  off  with  business,"  said  a  city 
man.  "  I  bought  land  up  yonder  and  signed  papers  back- 
ing you.  I  thought  there  would  be  a  boom  in  the  valley 
when  you  got  through,  but  I've  heard  some  talk  lately  to 
the  effect  that  the  river  is  going  to  beat  you,  and,  in  any 
case,  you're  making  slow  headway.  What  I,  what  we  all, 
want  to  know  is,  when  you're  going  to  have  the  undertak- 
ing completed." 

Applause  and  a  whispering  followed,  and  another  man 
said,  "Our  sentiments  exactly!  Guess  you've  seen  llie 
Freespeaker's  article !  " 

"  I  have,"  Savine  acknowledged  coolly.  "  It  suggested 
that  1  have  no  intention  of  carrying  out  my  agreement, 
that  I  am  hoodwinking  the  authorities  for  some  indefinite 
purpose  mysteriously  connected  with  maintaining  our 
present  provincial  rulers  in  power.  The  thing's  absurd  on 
the  face  of  it,  when  I'm  spending  my  money  like  water, 
and  you  ought  to  know  me  better.  I  won't  even  get  the 
comparatively  insignificant  bonus  until  the  work  is  fin- 
ished." 

S.-veral  of  the  listeners  rapped  upon  the  table,  one  or 
two  growled  suspiciously,  and  a  big  sunburnt  Englishman 
stood  up.  "  We'll  let  the  article  in  question  pass,"  he  said. 
"  It  is  clearly  written  with  personal  animus.  As  you  say, 
we  know  you  better;  but  see  here,  Savine,  this  is  going  to 
be  a  serious  business  for  us  if  you  fail.  We've  helped  you 
with  free  labor,  hauled  your  timber  in,  lent  you  oxen,  and, 


AN    INSPIRATION  109 

in  fact,  done  almost  everything,  besides  giving  you  our 
bonds  for  a  good  many  dollars  and  signing  full  approval 
of  your  scheme.  By  doing  this  we  have  barred  ourselves 
from  encouraging  the  other  fellows'  plans." 

After  similar  but  less  complimentary  speeches  had  been 
made,  Thurston,  who  had  been  whispering  to  Savine, 
claimed  attention.  He  cast  a  searching  glance  round  the 
assembly.  "  Any  sensible  man  could  see  that  the  opposi- 
tion scheme  is  impracticable,"  he  declared.  "  I  am  afraid 
some  of  you  have  been  sent  here  well  primed." 

His  last  remark  was  perhaps  combatant  rashness,  or 
possibly  a  premeditated  attempt  to  force  the  listeners  to 
reveal  their  actual  sentiments.  If  he  wished  to  get  at  the 
truth,  he  was  successful,  for  several  men  began  to  speak  at 
once,  and  while  disjointed  words  interloped  his  remarks, 
the  loudest  of  them  said : 

"  You  can't  fool  us,  Savine.  We're  poor  men  with  a 
living  to  earn,  but  we're  mighty  tough,  and  nobody  walks 
over  us  with  nails  in  their  boots.  If  you  can't  hold  up 
that  river,  where  are  we  going  to  be?  I'd  sooner  shove  in 
the  giant  powder  to  blow  them  up,  than  stand  by  and  see 
my  crops  and  cattle  washed  out  when  your  big  dykes  bust." 

"  So  would  I,"  cried  several  voices,  and  there  was  a 
rapid  cross-fire  of  question  and  comment.  "  Not  the  men 
to  be  fooled  with."  "  Stand  by  our  rights ;  appeal  to 
legislation,  and  choke  this  thing  right  up ! "  "  Can  you 
make  your  dykes  stand  water  at  all  ?  "  "  Give  the  man — a 
fair  show."  "  How  many  years  do  you  figure  on  keeping 
us  waiting?" 

Savine  rose  somewhat  stiffly  from  his  chair,  and  Thurs- 
ton noted  an  ominous  grayness  in  either  cheek. 

"There  are  just  two  things  you  can  do,"  Savine  said; 
"  appeal  to  your  legislators  to  get  my  grants  canceled,  or 
sit  tight  and  trust  me.  For  thirty-five  years  I've  done  my 
share  in  the  development  of  the  Dominion,  and  I  never 
took  a  contract  I  didn't  put  through.  This  has  proved  a 
tough  one,  but  if  it  costs  me  my  last  dollar " 


110   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

The  honest  persons  among  the  malcontents  were  mostly 
struggling  men,  who,  having  expected  the  operations 
would  bring  them  swift  prosperity,  had  been  the  more  dis- 
appointed. Still,  the  speaker's  sincerity  inspired  return- 
ing confidence,  and,  when  he  paused,  there  was  a  measure 
of  sympathy  for  him,  for  he  seemed  haggard  and  ill,  and 
was  one  against  many.  His  guests  began  to  wonder 
whether  they  had  not  been  too  impatient  and  suspicious, 
and  one  broke  in  apologetically,  "  That's  good !  We're  not 
unreasonable.  But  we  like  straight  talking — what  if  the 
dykes  keep  on  bursting  ?  " 

Then  there  was  consternation,  tor  Savine  collapsed  into 
his  chair,  after  he  had  said,  "  Mr.  Thurston  will  tell  you. 
Remember  he  acts  for  me."  To  Geoffrey  he  whispered,  "  I 
don't  feel  well.  Help  me  out,  and  then  go  back  to 
them." 

"  Sit  still.  Stand  back !  You  have  done  rather  too 
much  already,"  Geoffrey  declared,  turning  fiercely  upon 
the  men,  who  hurried  forward,  one  with  a  water  decanter, 
and  another  with  a  wine  glass. 

The  guests  fell  back  before  Thurston,  as  he  led  Savine, 
who  leaned  heavily  upon  him,  from  the  banquet  room. 
As  they  entered  a  broad  hall  Helen  and  her  aunt  passed 
along  the  veranda  upon  which  it  opened. 

"  They  must  not  know ;  keep  them  out ! "  gasped  the 
contractor.  "  Get  me  some  brandy  and  ring  for  the  stew- 
ard— quick.  You  have  got  to  go  back  and  convince  those 
fellows,  Thurston.    Good  Lord  ! — this  is  agony." 

Savine  sank  into  a  chair.  His  twitching  face  was  livid, 
and  great  beads  of  moisture  gathered  upon  his  forehead. 
Thurston  pressed  a  button,  then  strode  swiftly  towards  the 
door  hoping  that  Helen,  who  passed  outside  with  a  laugh 
upon  her  lips,  might  be  spared  the  sight  of  her  father's 
suffering.  But  Mrs.  Savine,  gazing  in  through  a  long 
window,  started  as  she  exclaimed,  "Helen,  your  father's 
very  sick!  Run  along  and  bring  me  the  elixir  out  of  my 
valise." 


AN    INSPIRATION  111 

Helen  turned  towards  the  window,  and  Geoffrey,  who 
gToaned  inwardly,  placed  himself  so  that  she  could  not 
see.  There  was  a  rustle  of  skirts,  and  swift,  light  foot- 
steps approached. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  Why  do  you  stand  there  ?  Let 
me  pass  at  once ! "  cried  Helen  in  a  voice  trembling  with 
fear. 

"  Please  wait  a  few  moments,"  answered  Geoffrey, 
standing  between  the  suffering  man  and  his  daughter. 
"  Your  father  will  be  better  directly,  and  you  must  not 
excite  him." 

■  There  was  no  mistaking  the  color  in  Helen's  face  now. 
If  her  eyes  were  anxious  the  crimson  in  her  cheeks  and  on 
her  forehead  was  that  of  anger.  Geoffrey  felt  compas- 
sionate, but   he  was  still  determined  to  spare  her. 

"  For  your  father's  sake  and  your  own,  don't  go  to  him 
just  yet,  Miss  Savine,"  he  pleaded,  but,  with  little  fingers 
whose  grip  felt  steely,  the  girl  wrenched  away  his  detain- 
ing arm. 

"  Is  there  no  limit  to  your  interference  or  presump- 
tion ?  "  she  asked,  sweeping  past  him  to  fall  with  a  low 
cry  beside  the  big  chair  upon  which  her  father  was  re- 
clining.    The  cry  pierced  to  Thurston's  heart. 

Helen  had  seen  little  of  either  sickness  or  tragedy. 
Savine  sat  still  as  if  he  did  not  see  her,  his  face  contracted 
into  a  ghastly  grin  of  pain.  The  attendant  who  came  to 
them  deftly  aided  Geoffrey  to  force  a  little  cordial  between 
the  sufferer's  teeth.  Savine  made  no  sign,  Forgetting 
her  indignation  in  her  terror  Helen  glanced  at  Geoffrey 
in  vague  question,  but  he  merely  raised  his  hand  with  a 
restraining  gesture. 

"  We  had  better  get  him  onto  a  sofa,  sir,"  whispered  the 
attendant,  presently.  "  Not  very  heavy.  Perhaps  you  and 
I  could  manage."  It  was  when  he  was  being  lifted  that 
Savine  first  showed  signs  of  intelligence.  He  glanced  at 
Geoffrey  and  attempted  to  beckon  towards  the  room  they 
had  left.    When  he  seemed  slightly  better,  Thurston  said : 


112   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  I  am  going,  sir.  Stay  here  a  few  minutes,  and  then 
call  somebody,  waiter.    I  cannot  stay  any  longer." 

Savine  made  an  approving  gesture,  but  Helen  said  with 
fear  and  evident  surprise,  "  You  will  not  leave  us  now, 
Mr.  Thurston?" 

"I  must,"  answered  Geoffrey,  restraining  an  intense 
longing  to  stay  since  she  desired  it,  but  loyal  to  his  mas- 
ter's charge.  "  I  believe  your  father  is  recovering,  and  it 
is  his  especial  wish.  I  can  do  nothing,  and  he  needs  only 
quiet." 

Helen  said  nothing  further.  She  began  to  chafe  her 
father's  hand,  while  Thurston  went  back,  pale  and  grim, 
to  the  head  of  the  long  table. 

"  Mr.  Savine  was  seized  by  a  passing  faintness,  but  is 
recovering,"  he  said.  "  Nevertheless,  he  may  not  be  able 
to  return,  and,  as  I  am  interested  with  him  in  the  drain- 
age scheme  he  has  appointed  me  his  deputy.  Therefore,  in 
brief  answer  to  your  questions,  I  would  say  that  if  either 
of  us  lives  you  shall  have  good  oat  fields  instead  of  swamp 
grass  and  muskeg.  It  is  a  solemn  promise — we  intend  to 
redeem  it." 

"  I  want  to  ask  just  two  questions,"  announced  a  sun- 
bronzed  man,  in  picturesque  jacket  of  fringed  deerskin. 
"Who  are  the — we;  and  how  are  you  going  to  build 
dykes  strong  enough  to  stand  the  river  when  the  lake's 
full  of  melting  snow  and  sends  the  water  down  roaring 
under  a  twenty-foot  head  ?  " 

The  speaker  had  touched  the  one  weak  spct  in  Savine's 
scheme,  but  Geoffrey  rose  to  the  occasion,  and  there  was  a 
wondering  hush  when  he  said,  "  In  answer  to  the  first 
question— Julius  Savine  and  I  are  the  'we.'  Secondly, 
we  will,  if  necessary,  obliterate  the  lake.    It  can  he  done." 

The  boldness  of  the  answer  from  a  comparatively  un- 
known man  held  the  listeners  still,  until  there  were  further 
questions  and  finally,  amid  acclamation,  one  of  the  party 
said  : 

"Then  it's  a  bargain,  and  we'll  back  you  solid  through 


AN    INSPIRATION  113 

thick  and  thin.  Isn't  that  so,  gentlemen?  If  the  opposi- 
tion try  to  make  legal  trouble,  as  the  holders  of  the  cleared 
land  likely  to  be  affected  we've  got  the  strongest  pull. 
We  came  here  doubting;  you  have  convinced  us." 

"  I  hardly  think  you  will  regret  it,"  Geoffrey  assured 
them.    "  Now,  as  I  must  see  to  Mr.  Savine,  you  will  ex- 


cuse me." 


Savine  lay  breathing  heavily  when  Geoffrey  rejoined 
him,  but  he  demanded  what  had  happened,  and  nodded 
approval  when  told.  Then  Geoffrey  withdrew,  beckoning 
to  Helen,  who  rose  and  followed  him. 

"  This  is  no  time  for  useless  recrimination,  or  I  would 
ask  how  you  could  leave  one  who  has  been  a  generous 
friend,  helpless  and  suffering,"  the  girl  said  reproachfully. 
"  My  father  is  evidently  seriously  ill,  and  you  are  the  only 
person  I  can  turn  to,  for  the  hotel  manager  tells  me  there 
is  no  doctor  within  miles  of  us.  So  in  my  distress  I  must 
stoop  to  ask  you,  for  his  sake,  what  I  can  do  ?  " 

"  Will  you  believe  not  only  that  I  sympathize,  but  that 
I  would  gladly  have  given  all  I  possess  to  save  you  from 
this  shock  ?  "  Thurston  began,  but  Helen  cut  him  short 
by  an  impatient  wave  of  the  hand,  and  stood  close  beside 
him  with  distress  and  displeasure  in  her  eyes. 

"  All  that  is  outside  the  question — what  can  we  do  ?  " 
she  asked  imploringly. 

"  Only  one  thing,"  answered  Geoffrey.  "  Bring  up  the 
best  doctor  in  Vancouver  by  special  train.  I'm  going  now 
to  hold  up  the  fast  freight.  Gather  your  courage.  I  will 
be  back  soon  after  daylight  witli  skilled  assistance." 

He  went  out  before  the  girl  could  answer,  and,  com- 
forted, Helen  hurried  back  to  her  father's  side.  What- 
ever his  failings  might  be,  Thurston  was  at  least  a  man 
to  depend  upon  when  there  was  need  of  action. 

There  was  a  little  platform  near  the  hotel  where  trains 
might  be  flagged  for  the  benefit  of  passengers,  but  the 
office  was  locked.  Thurston,  who  knew  that  shortly  a 
freight  train  would  pass,  broke  in  the  window,  borrowed 


114.      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

a  lantern,  lighted  it,  and  hurried  up  the  track  which  here 
wound  round  a  curve  through  the  forest  and  over  a  trestle. 
It  is  not  pleasant  to  cross  a  lofty  trestle  bridge  on  foot  in 
broad  daylight,  for  one  must  step  from  sleeper  to  sleeper 
over  wide  spaces  with  empty  air  beneath,  and,  as  the  ties 
are  just  wide  enough  to  carry  the  single  pair  of  rails,  it 
would  mean  death  to  meet  a  train.  Geoffrey  nevertheless 
pressed  on  fast,  the  light  of  the  blinking  lantern  dazzling 
his  eyes  and  rendering  it  more  difficult  to  judge  the  dis- 
tances between  the  ties — until  he  halted  for  breath  a  mo- 
ment in  the  center  of  the  bridge.  White  mist  and  the  roar 
of  hurrying  water  rose  out  of  the  chasm  beneath,  but  an- 
other sound  broke  through  the  noise  of  the  swift  stream. 
Geoffrey  hear  the  vibratory  rattle  of  freight  cars  racing 
down  the  valley,  and  he  went  on  again  at  a  reckless  run, 
leaping  across  black  gulfs  of  shadow. 

The  sound  had  gained  in  volume  when  he  reached  firm 
earth  and  ran  swiftly  towards  the  end  of  the  curve,  from 
which,  down  a  long  declivity,  the  engineer  could  see  his 
lantern.  Panting,  he  held  the  light  aloft  as  a  great  fan- 
shaped  blaze  of  radiance  came  flaming  like  a  comet  down 
the  track. 

Soon  he  could  dimly  discern  the  shape  of  two  huge 
mountain  engines,  while  the  rails  trembled  beside  him, 
and  a  wall  of  rock  flung  back  the  din  of  whirring  wheels. 
The  fast  freight  had  started  from  the  head  of  Atlantic 
navigation  at  Montreal,  and  would  not  stop  until  the  huge 
cars  rolled  alongside  the  Empress  liner  at  Vancouver,  for 
part  of  their  burden  was  being  hurried  West  from  Eng- 
land around  half  the  world  to  China  and  the  East  again. 
The  track  led  down-grade,  and  the  engineers,  who  had 
nursed  the  great  machines  up  the  long  climb  to  the  sum- 
mit, were  now  racing  them  down  hill. 

Waving  the  lantern  Geoffrey  stood  with  a  foot  on  one 
of  the  rails  and  every  sense  intent,  until  the  first  engine's 
cow-catcher  was  almost  upon  him.  Then  he  leaped  for 
his  life  and  stood  half-blinded  amid  whirling  ballast  and 


AN    INSPIRATION  115 

a  rushing  wind,  as,  veiled  in  thick  dust,  the  great  box 
cars  clanged  by.  He  was  savage  with  dismay,  for  it 
seemed  that  the  engineer  had  not  seen  his  signal ;  then  his 
heart  bounded,  a  shrill  hoot  from  two  whistles  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  screaming  of  brakes.  When  he  came  up  with 
the  standing  train  at  the  end  of  the  trestle,  one  engineer, 
leaning  down  from  the  rail  of  the  cab,  said: 

"  I  saw  your  light  away  back,  but  was  too  busy  trying 
to  stop  without  smashing  something  to  answer.  Say,  has 
the  trestle  caved  in,  or  what  in  the  name  of  thunder  is 
holding  us  up  ? " 

"  The  trestle  is  all  right,"  answered  Geoffrey,  climbing 
into  the  cab.  "  I  held  you  up,  and  I'm  going  on  with  you 
to  bring  out  a  doctor  to  my  partner,  who  is  dangerously 
ill/' 

The  engineer's  comments  were  indignant  and  sulphur- 
ous, while  the  big  fireman  turned  back  his  shirt  sleeves 
as  if  preparing  to  chastise  the  man  rash  enough  to  inter- 
fere with  express  freight  traffic.  Geoffrey,  reaching  for  a 
shovel,  said: 

"  When  we  get  there,  I'll  go  with  you  to  your  superin- 
tendent at  Vancouver;  but,  if  either  of  j^ou  try  to  put  me 
off  or  to  call  assistance,  I'll  make  good  use  of  this.  I  tell 
you  it's  a  question  of  life  and  death,  and  two  at  least  of 
your  directors  are  good  friends  of  the  man  I  want  to 
help.  They  wouldn't  thank  you  for  destroying  his  last 
chance.  Meantime  you're  wasting  precious  moments. 
Start  the  train." 

"  Hold  fast !  "  commanded  the  grizzled  engineer,  open- 
ing the  throttle.  "When  she's  under  way,  I'll  talk  to 
you,  and  unless  you  satisfy  me,  by  the  time  we  reach  Van- 
couver there  won't  be  much  of  you  left  for  the  police  to 
take  charge  of." 

Then  the  two  locomotives  started  the  long  cars  on  their 
inter-ocean  race  again. 


CHAPTER   XII 

GEOFFREY   TESTS    HIS   FATE 

It  was  a  lowering  afternoon  in  the  Fall,  when  Thurston 
and  Julius  Savine  stood  talking  together  upon  a  spray- 
drenched  ledge   in  the   depths   of    a   British   Columbian 
canon.    On  the  crest  of  the  smooth-scarped  hillside,  which 
stretched   back   from   the   sheer   face   of   rock   far   over- 
head, stood  what  looked  like  a  tiny  fretwork  in  ebony,  and 
consisted  of  two-hundred-foot  conifers.    Here  and  there  a 
r  '.amorous    torrent    had    worn    out    a    gully,    and,    with 
Thurston's  assistance,   Savine  had  accomplished  the   de- 
scent of  one  of  the  less  precipitous.     Elsewhere  the  rocks 
had  been  rubbed  into  smooth  walls,  between  which  the 
river  had  fretted  out  its  channel  during  countless  ages. 
The  water  was  coming  down  in  a  mad  green  flood,  for  the 
higher  snows  had  melted  fast  under  the  autumn  sun,  and 
the  clay  beneath  the  glaciers  had  stained  it.    Foam  licked 
the  ledges,  a  roaring  white  wake  streamed  behind  each 
boulder's  ugly  head,  and  the  whole  gloomy  canon  rang 
with  the  thunder  of  a  Tapid,  whose  filmy  stream  whirled 
in  the  chilly  breeze. 

Savine  gazed  at  the  rapid  and  the  whirlpool  that  fed  it, 
distinguishing  the  roar  of  scoring  gravel  and  grind  of 
broken  rock  from  its  vibratory  booming,  and  though  he 
was  a  daring  man,  his  heart  almost  failed  him. 

"It  looks  ugly,  horribly  ugly,  and  I  doubt  if  another 
man  in  the  Dominion  would  have  suggested  tackling  the 
river  here,  but  you  are  right,"  he  admitted.  "  Human 
judgment  has  its  limits,  and  the  constant  bursts  have 
proved   that   no   dykes   which   wouldn't  ruin  me  in   the 

dlding  could   stand  high-water  pressure  long.     If  you 
"    mind,  Thurston,  we'll  move  farther  from  the  edge. 
I've  been  a  little  shaky  since  that  last  attack." 

116 


GEOFFREY  TESTS  HIS  FATE    117 

"  The  climb  down  was  awkward,  but  you  have  looked 
better  lately,"  declared  Geoffrey  and  Savine  sighed. 

"  I  guess  my  best  days  are  done,  and  that  is  one  reason 
why  I  wish  to  end  up  with  a  big  success,"  he  said.  "  I 
got  a  plain  warning  from  the  Vancouver  doctor  you 
brought  me  in  that  morning.    You  managed  it  smartly." 

"  I  was  lucky,"  said  Thurston,  laughing.  "  At  first,  I 
expected  to  be  ignominiously  locked  up  after  the  engineer 
and  fireman  had  torn  my  clothes  off  me.  But  we  did  not 
climb  down  here1  to  talk  of  that." 

"No!"  and  Savine  looked  straight  at  his  companion. 
"  This  is  a  great  scheme,  Thurston,  the  biggest  I  have 
ever  undertaken.  There  will  be  room  for  scores  of 
ranches,  herds  of  cattle,  wheat  fields  and  orchards,  if  we 
can  put  it  through — and  we  have  just  got  to  put  it 
through.  Those  confounded  dykes  have  drained  me  heav- 
ily, and  they'll  keep  right  on  costing  money.  Still,  even  to 
me,  it  looks  almost  beyond  the  power  of  mortal  man  to 
deepen  the  channel  here.  The  risk  will  figure  high  in 
money,  but  higher  in  human  life.  You  feel  quite  certain 
you  can  do  it?" 

"  Yes !  "  asserted  Geoffrey.  "  I  believe  I  can — in  win- 
ter, when  the  frost  binds  the  glaciers  and  the  waters 
shrink.  Once  it  is  done,  and  the  only  hard  rock  barrier 
that  holds  the  water  up  removed,  the  river  will  scour  its 
own  way  through  the  alluvial  deposits.  I  have  asked  a 
long  price,  but  the  work  will  be  difficult." 

Savine  nodded.  He  knew  that  it  would  be  a  task  almost 
fit  for  demi-gods  or  giants  to  cut  clown  the  bed  of  what  was 
a  furious  torrent,  thick  with  grinding  debris  and  scoring 
ice,  and  that  only  very  strong  bold  men  could  grapple 
with  the  angry  waters,  amid  blinding  snow  or  under  the 
bitter  frost  of  the  inland  ranges  in  winter  time. 

"  The  price  is  not  too  heavy,  but  I  don't  accept  your 
terms,"  Savine  said.  "  Hold  on  until  I  have  finished  and 
then  begin  your  talking.  I'll  offer  you  a  minor  partner- 
ship in  my  business  instead.     Take  time,  and  keep  your 


118  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

answer  until  I  explain  things  in  my  offices,  in  case  you 
find  the  terms  onerous;  but  there  are  many  men  in  this 
country  who  would  be  glad  of  the  chance  you're  get- 
ting." 

Geoffrey  stood  up,  his  lean  brown  face  twitching.  He 
walked  twice  along  the  slippery  ledge,  and  then  halted  be- 
fore Savine.  "  I  will  accept  them  whatever  they  are  on 
one  condition,  which  I  hardly  dare  hope  you  will  approve," 
he  replied.  "  That  is,  regarding  the  partnership,  for  in 
any  case,  holding  to  my  first  suggestion,  you  can  count  on 
my  best  help  down  here.  I  don't  forget  that  I  owe  you  a 
heavy  debt  of  gratitude,  sir,  though,  as  you  know,  I  have 
had  several  good  offers  latterly." 

Savine,  who  had  been  abstractedly  watching  the  mad 
rush  of  the  stream,  looked  up  as  he  inquired : 

"What  is  the  condition?  You  seem  unusually  diffident 
to-day,  Thurston." 

"It  is  a  great  thing  I  am  going  to  ask."  Geoffrey, 
standing  on  the  treacherous  ledge  above  the  thundering 
river,  scarcely  looked  like  a  suppliant  as  he  put  his  fate 
to  the  test.  "  It  is  your  permission  to  ask  Miss  Savine  to 
marry  me  when  the  time  seems  opportune.  It  would  not  be 
surprising  if  you  laughed  at  me,  but  even  then  I  should 
only  wait  the  more  patiently.  This  is  not  a  new  ambition, 
for  one  day  when  I  first  came,  a  poor  man,  into  this  coun- 
try I  set  my  heart  upon  it,  and  working  ever  since  to 
realize  it,  I  have,  so  far  at  least  as  worldly  prospects  go, 
lessened  the  distance  between  us." 

Savine,  who  betrayed  no  surprise,  was  silent  for  a  little 
while.    Then  he  answered  quietly: 

"I  am,  according  to  popular  opinion,  anything  but  a 
poor  man,  and  though  those  dykes  have  bled  me,  such  a 
match  would,  as  you  suggest,  be  unequal  from  a  financial 
point  of  view,  unless  Helen  marries  against  my  wishes. 
Then  she  should  marry  without  a  dollar.  Does  that  in- 
fluence you  ? " 

Thurston  spread  out  his  hands  with  a  contemptuous 


GEOFFREY  TESTS  HIS  FATE    119 

gesture,  which  his  quiet  earnestness  redeemed  from  being 
theatrical. 

"  For  my  own  sake  I  should  prefer  it  so.  Dollars !  How 
far  would  anyone  count  dollars  in  comparison  with  Miss 
Savine?  But  I  do  not  fear  being  able  to  earn  all  she 
needs.  When  the  time  seems  opportune  the  inequality 
may  be  less." 

"  It  is  possible,"  continued  Savine.  "One  notices  that 
the  man  who  knows  exactly  what  he  wants  and  doesn't 
fool  his  time  away  over  other  things  not  infrequently  gets 
it.  You  have  not  really  surprised  me.  Now — and  I  want 
a  straight  answer — why  did  you  leave  the  Old  Country  ?  " 

"  For  several  reasons.  I  lost  my  money  mining.  The 
lady  whom  I  should  have  married,  according  to  arrange- 
ments made  for  us,  tired  of  me.  It  is  a  somewhat  painful 
story,  but  I  was  bound  up  in  the  mine,  and  there  were,  no 
doubt,  ample  excuses  for  her.  We  were  both  of  us  almost 
too  young  to  know  our  own  minds  when  we  fell  in  with  our 
relatives'  wishes,  and,  though  I  hardly  care  to  say  so,  it 
was  perhaps  well  we  found  out  our  mistake  in  time." 

"  Ah !  "  said  Savine.  "  Were  there  no  openings  for  a 
live  man  in  the  Old  Country,  and  have  you  told  me  all  ?  " 

"  I  could  not  find  any  place  for  a  man  in  my  position," 
Geoffrey  let  the  words  fall  slowly.  "  I  come  of  a  reckless, 
hard-living  family,  and  I  feared  that  some  of  their  failings 
might  repeat  themselves  in  me.  I  had  my  warnings. 
Had  I  stayed  over  there,  a  disappointed  man,  they  might 
have  mastered  me,  and  so,  when  there  was  nothing 
to  keep  me,  I  turned  my  back — and  ran.  Out  here 
any  man  who  hungers  for  it  can  find  quite  sufficient 
healthful  excitement  for  his  needs,  and  excitement  is  as 
wine  to  me.  These,  I  know,  seem  very  curious  qualifica- 
tions for  a  son-in-law,  but  it  seemed  just  to  tell  you. 
Need  I  explain  further  ?  " 

'  No,"  answered  Savine,  whose  face  had  grown  serious. 
"  Thanks  for  your  honesty.  I  guess  I  know  the  weaknesses 
you  mean — the  greatest  of  them  is  whiskey.     I've  had 


120   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

scores  of  brilliant  men  it  has  driven  out  from  Europe  to 
shovel  dirt  for  me.  It's  not  good  news,  Thurston.  How 
long  have  you  made  head  against  your  inherited  fail- 
ings ? " 

"Since  I  could  understand  things  clearly,"  was  the 
steady  answer.  "  I  feared  only  what  might  happen,  and 
would  never  have  spoken  had  I  not  felt  that  this  country 
had  helped  me  to  break  the  entail,  and  set  me  free.  You 
know  all,  sir,  and  to  my  disadvantage  I  have  put  it  before 
you  tersely,  but  there  is  another  aspect." 

Thurston's  tone  carried  conviction  with  it,  but  Savine 
cut  him  short.  "  It  is  the  practical  aspect  that  appeals  to 
me,"  he  said.  He  stared  down  at  the  river  for  several 
minutes  before  he  asked : 

"  Have  you  any  reason  to  believe  that  Helen  reciprocates 
the  attachment  ?  " 

"  No."  Geoffrey's  face  fell.  "  Once  or  twice  I  ven- 
tured almost  to  hope  so;  more  often  I  feared  the  opposite. 
All  I  ask  is  the  right  to  wait  until  the  time  seems  ripe, 
and  know  that  I  shall  have  your  good  will  if  it  ever  does. 
I  could  accept  no  further  benefits  from  your  hands  until 
I  had  told  you." 

"  You  have  it  now,"  Savine  declared  very  gravely.  "  As 
you  know,  my  life  is  uncertain,  and  I  believe  you  faithful 
and  strong  enough  to  take  care  of  Helen.  After  all,  what 
more  could  I  look  for?  Still,  if  she  does  not  like  you, 
there  will  be  an  end  of  the  matter.  It  may  be  many 
would  blame  me  for  yielding,  but  I  believe  I  could  trust 
you,  Thurston — and  there  are  things  they  do  not  know." 

Savine  sighed  after  the  last  words.  His  face  clouded. 
Then  he  added  abruptly:  "Speak  when  it  suits  you, 
Thurston,  and  good  luck  to  you.  There  are  reasons  besides 
the  fact  that  I'm  an  old  man  why  I  should  envy  you." 

Had  Geoffrey  been  less  exultant  he  might  have  noticed 
something  curious  in  Savine's  expression,  but  he  was  too 
full  of  his  heart's  desire  to  be  conscious  of  more  than  the 
one  all-important   fact  that   Helen's  father  wished  him 


GEOFFREY  TESTS  HIS  FATE    121 

well.  It  was  in  a  mood  of  high  hopefulness  he  assisted 
Mr.  Savine  during  the  arduous  scramble  up  out  of  the 
canon.  Later  his  elation  was  diminished  by  the  recollec- 
tion that  he  had  yet  to  win  the  good  will  of  Miss  Savine. 

Some  time  had  passed  after  the  interview  in  the  canon, 
when  one  afternoon  Geoffrey  walked  out  on  the  veranda 
at  High  Maples  in  search  of  Helen  Savine.  It  was  winter 
time,  but  the  climate  near  the  southwestern  coast  is  mild. 
High  Maples  was  sheltered,  and  the  sun  was  faintly  warm. 
There  were  a  few  hardy  flowers  in  the  borders  fringing 
the  smooth  green  lawn,  a  striking  contrast  to  the  snow- 
sheeted  pines  of  the  ice-bound  wilderness  in  which  Thurs- 
ton toiled.  Helen  was  not  on  the  veranda,  and  not  know- 
ing where  to  search  further,  the  young  man  sank  some- 
what heavily  into  a  chair.  Geoffrey  had  ridden  all  night 
through  powdery  snow-drifts  which  rose  at  times  to  the 
stirrup,  and  at  others  so  high  that  his  horse  could  scarcely 
flounder  through  them.  He  had  made  out  lists  of  neces- 
sary stores  as  the  jolting  train  sped  on  to  Vancouver,  and 
had  been  busy  every  moment  until  it  was  time  to  start  for 
High  Maples.  Though  he  would  have  had  it  otherwise, 
he  dare  not  neglect  one  item  when  time  was  very  precious. 
He  had  not  spared  himself  much  leisure  for  either  food  or 
sleep  of  late,  for  by  the  short  northern  daylight,  and 
flame  of  the  roaring  lucigen,  through  the  long  black 
nights,  he  and  his  company  of  carefully  picked  men  had 
fought  stubbornly  with  the  icy  river. 

The  suns  rays  grew  brighter,  there  was  still  no  sign  of 
Helen.  Tired  in  mind  and  body  Geoffrey  sat  still,  lost  in 
a  reverie.  He  had  left  the  camp  in  a  state  of  nervous 
suspense,  but  overtaxed  nature  had  conquered,  and  now  he 
waited  not  less  anxious  than  he  had  been,  but  with  a  phys- 
ical languidness  due  to  the  reaction. 

When  Helen  Savine  finally  came  out  softly  through  a 
long  window  Geoffrey  did  not  at  first  see  her,  and  she  had 
time  to  cast  more  than  a  passing  glance  at  him  as  he  sat 


122      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

with  head  resting  gratefully  on  the  back  of  the  basket 
chair.  His  face,  deeply  tanned  by  the  snow,  had  grown 
•once  more  worn  and  thin.  There  were  lines  upon  the 
forehead  and  wrinkles  about  his  eyes;  one  bronzed  hand 
day  above  the  other  on  his  knee,  as  the  complement  of  a 
pose  that  suggested  the  exhaustion  of  over-fatigue.  The 
sight  roused  her  pity,  and  she  felt  unusually  sympathetic 
towards  the  tired  man. 

Then  Geoffrey  started  and  rose  quickly.  Helen  noticed 
how  he  seemed  to  fling  off  his  weariness  as  he  came 
towards  her,  hat  in  hand. 

"  I  have  made  a  hurried  journey  to  see  you,  Miss  Sa- 
vine,"  he  said.  "  I  have  something  to  tell  you,  something 
concerning  which  I  cannot  keep  silence  any  longer.  If 
I  am  abrupt  you  will  forgive  me,  but  will  you  listen  a  few 
moments,  and  then  answer  me  a  question  ?  " 

The  man's  tone  was  humble  if  his  eyes  were  eager,  and 
Helen,  who  was  sensible  of  a  tremor  of  emotion,  leaned 
against  the  rails  of  the  veranda.  The  winter  sunlight 
shone  full  upon  her,  and  either  that  or  the  cold  breeze 
that  she  had  met  on  the  headland  accounted  for  the  color 
in  her  cheeks.  She  made  a  dainty  picture  in  her  fur  cap 
and  close-fitting  jacket,  whose  rich  fur  trimming  set  off 
the  curves  of  a  shapely  figure.  The  man's  longing  must 
have  shown  itself  in  his  eyes,  for  Helen  suddenly  turned 
her  glance  away  from  him.  Again  she  felt  a  curious 
thrill,  almost  of  pleasure,  and  wondered  at  it.  If  she  had 
guessed  his  meaning  correctly  she  would  have  felt  merely 
sorry  for  him,  and  yet  there  was  no  mistaking  an  indefi- 
nite sense  of  satisfaction. 

"  Do  you  remember  what  I  once  told  you  at  Graham's 
ranch  ?  "  he  asked.  "  I  was  a  needy  adventurer  then,  and 
•_ruilty  of  horrible  presumption,  but  though  the  words  came 
without  my  definite  will  I  meant  every  one  of  them.  I 
knew  flmre  could  be  only  one  woman  in  the  world  for  me, 
and  1  solemnly  determined  to  win  her.  It  seemed  mad- 
ness— I  was  a  poor,  unknown  man — but  the  thought  of 


GEOFFREY  TESTS  HIS  FATE    123 

you  drove  me  resistlessly  on  until  at  last  the  gulf  between 
us  has  been  narrowed,  and  may  be  narrower  still.  That  is, 
I  have  striven  to  lessen  it  in  the  one  way  I  can — in  all 
others  without  your  help  it  must  remain  impassable. 
Heaven  knows  how  far  I  am  beneath  you,  and  the  daring 
hope  has  but  one  excuse — I  love  you,  and  shall  always  do 
so.    Is  what  I  hope  for  quite  impossible  ?  " 

While  Helen  would  have  told  herself  ten  minutes  earlier 
that  she  almost  disliked  the  pleader,  she  was  conscious  of 
a  new  emotion.  She  had  regarded  other  suitors  with 
something  like  contempt,  but  it  was  not  so  with  Thurston. 
Even  if  he  occasionally  repelled  her,  it  was  impossible  to 
despise  him. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  she  said  slowly.  "  Sorry  that  you  should 
have  told  me  this,  because  I  can  only  answer  that  it  is  im- 
possible." 

Geoffrey  evinced  no  great  surprise.  His  face  became 
stern  instead  of  expectant;  his  toil-hardened  frame  was 
more  erect,  as  he  answered  with  unusual  gentleness : 

"  I  have  endeavored  to  prepare  myself  for  your  reply. 
How  could  I  hope  to  win  you — as  it  were  for  the  asking — 
easily?  Still,  though  I  am  painfully  conscious  of  many 
possible  reasons,  may  I  venture  to  ask  why  it  is  impossible, 
Miss  Savine  ?  " 

Helen  answered :  "  I  am  sorry  it  is  so — but  why  should 
I  pain  you?  Can  you  not  take  my  answer  without  the 
reasons  ?  " 

"No;  not  if  you  will  give  them,"  persisted  Geoffrey. 
"  I  have  grown  accustomed  to  unpleasant  things,  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  there  is  truth  in  the  belief  that  they  are  good 
for  one.  The  truth  from  your  lips  would  hurt  me  less. 
Will  you  not  tell  me?" 

"  I  will  try  if  you  demand  it."  Helen,  who  could  not 
help  noticing  how  unflinchingly  he  had  received  what  was 
really  a  needlessly  cold  rebuff,  hoped  she  was  lucid  as  she 
began : 

"  I  have  a  respect  for  you,  Mr.  Thurston,  but — how 


124   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

shall  I  express  it? — also  a  shrinking.  You — please  re- 
member, you  insisted — seem  so  hard  and  overbearing,  and 

while  power  is  a  desirable  attribute  in  a  man But  will 

you  force  me  to  go  on  ?  " 

"  I  beg  you  to  go  on,"  said  Geoffrey,  with  a  certain 
grimness. 

"  In  spite  of  a  popular  fallacy,  I  could  not  esteem  a — a 
husband  I  was  afraid  of.  A  man  should  be  gentle,  pitiful 
and  considerate  to  all  women.  Without  mutual  forbear- 
ance there   could  be  no  true  companionship — and " 

"  You  are  right."  Geoffrey's  voice  was  humble  without 
bitterness.  "  I  have  lived  a  hard  life,  and  perhaps  it  has 
made  me,  compared  with  your  standard,  brutal.  Still,  I 
would  ask  again,  are  these  all  your  reasons?  Is  the  other 
difference  between  us  too  great — the  distance  dividing  the 
man  you  gave  the  dollar  to  from  the  daughter  of  Julius 
Savine  ?  " 

"No,"  answered  Helen.  "That  difference  is,  after  all, 
imaginary.  We  do  not  think  over  here  quite  as  you  do  in 
England,  and  if  we  did,  are  you  not  a  Thurston  of 
Crosbie  ?  But  please  believe  that  I  am  sorry,  and — you  in- 
sisted on  the  explanation — forgive  me  if  I  have  said  too 
much.  There  is  a  long  future  before  you — and  men 
change  their  minds." 

Geoffrey's  face  darkened,  and  Helen,  who  regretted  the 
last  hasty  words  which  escaped  her  without  reflection, 
watched  him  intently  until  he  said : 

"Musker  must  have  told  you  about  something  in  my 
life.  But  I  was  not  inconstant  though  the  fault  was 
doubtless  mine.  That  is  a  story  which  cannot  be  men- 
tioned again,  Miss  Savine." 

"  I  had  never  meant  to  refer  to  it,"  Helen  apologized 
with  some  confusion,  "but  since  you  have  mistaken  me,  I 
must  add  that  another  friend  of  yours — a  lady — gave  me 
a  version  that  bore  truth  stamped  upon  the  face  of  it. 
One  could  imagine  that  you  would  not  take  kindly  to  the 
fate  others  arranged  for  you.    But  how  do  you  know  you 


GEOFFREY  TESTS  HIS  FATE    125 

are  not  repeating  the  same  mistake?  The  fancy  which 
deceived  you  then  may  do  the  same  again." 

"  How  do  I  know  ?  "  Geoffrey's  voice  rang  convincingly 
as  he  turned  upon  the  questioner,  stretched  out  an  arm 
towards  her,  and  then  dropped  it  swiftly.  "  I  know  what 
love  is  now,  because  you  have  taught  me.  Listen,  Miss 
Savine,  I  am  as  the  Almighty  made  me,  a  plain — and 
sometimes  an  ill-tempered  man,  who  would  gladly  lay 
down  his  life  to  save  you  sorrow;  but  if  what  you  say 
divides  us  is  all  there  is,  then,  as  long  as  you  remain 
Helen  Savine,  I  shall  cling  fast  to  my  purpose  and  strive 
to  prove  myself  worthy.  Again,  you  were  right — how 
could  you  be  otherwise? — but  I  shall  yet  convince  you 
that  you  need  not  shrink  from  me." 

"  It  would  be  wiser  to  take  a  definite  ' no '  for  an- 
swer," said  Helen.  "Why  should  this  fancy  spoil  your 
life  for  you  ?  " 

"  You  cannot  take  all  hope  from  me,"  Geoffrey  declared. 
"Would  you  suspect  me  of  exaggerated  sentiment,  if  I 
said  my  life  has  been  yours  for  a  long  time  and  is  yours 
now,  for  it  is  true.  I  will  go  back  to  the  work  that  is 
best  for  me,  merely  adding  that,  if  ever  there  is  either 
trouble  or  adversity  in  which  I  can  aid  you — though  God 
forbid,  for  your  sake,  that  should  ever  be  so — you  have 
only  to  send  for  me." 

"  I  can  at  least  sincerely  wish  you  success  in  your  great 
undertaking."  Helen  offered  him  her  hand,  and  was  con- 
scious of  a  faint  disappointment,  when,  barely  touching  it, 
he  turned  hurriedly  away.  She  watched  him  cross  the 
lawn  towards  the  stables,  and  then  waited  until  a  rapid 
thud  of  hoofs  broke  the  silence  of  the  woods. 

"  Gone,  and  I  let  him  carry  that  hope  away ! "  she  said, 
still  looking  towards  the  forest  with  troubled  eyes.  "  Yes- 
terday I  could  never  have  done  so,  but  yesterday  he  was 
gone,  and  now " 

Helen  did  not  finish  her  sentence,  but  as  the  beat  of 
hoofs  died  away,  glanced  at  the  hand  which  for  a  moment 


126      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

had  rested  in  Geoffrey's.  "What  has  happened  to  me, 
and  is  he  learning  quickly  or  growing  strangely  timid?" 
she  asked  herself. 

Thurston  almost  rode  over  Julius  Savine  near  the  rail- 
road depot,  and  reined  in  his  horse  to  say : 

"  I  have  my  answer,  sir,  but  do  not  feel  beaten  yet. 
Some  unholy  luck  insists  that  all  my  affairs  must  be  mixed 
with  my  daily  business,  and,  because  of  what  was  said  in 
the  canon,  I  must  ask  you,  now  of  all  times,  to  let  me  hold 
the  option  of  that  partnership  or  acceptance  of  the  offer  I 
made  you  until  we  vanquish  the  river." 

He  went  off  at  a  gallop  as  the  cars  rolled  in,  leaving 
Savine  smiling  dryly  as  he  looked  after  him. 


CHAPTEK   XIII 

A   TEST   OF   LOYALTY 

It  was  during  a  brief  respite  from  his  task,  which  had 
been  suspended,  waiting  the  arrival  of  certain  tools  and 
material,  that  Thurston  accompanied  Savine  and  Helen 
to  a  semi-public  gathering  at  the  house  of  a  man  who  was 
a  power  in  the  Mountain  Province  just  outside  Vancouver. 
Politicians,  land-speculators,  railroad  and  shipping  mag- 
nates were  present  with  their  wives  and  daughters,  and 
most  of  them  had  a  word  for  Savine  or  a  glance  of  ad- 
miration for  Helen. 

Savine  moved  among  guests  chatting  with  the  bril- 
liancy which  occasionally  characterized  him,  and  always 
puzzled  Thurston. 

Thurston  was  rarely  troubled  by  petty  jealousies,  but 
the  homage  all  men  paid  to  Helen  awoke  an  unpleasant 
apprehension  within  him.  He  did  not  know  many  of  the 
men  and  women  who  laughed  and  talked  in  animated 
groups;  and  at  length  found  himself  seated  alone  in  a 
quiet  corner.  The  ground  floor  of  the  rambling  house  con- 
sisted of  various  rooms,  some  of  which  opened  with  arch- 
ways into  one  another.  He  could  see  into  the  one  most 
crowded,  where  Helen  formed  the  center  of  an  admiring 
circle.  There  was  no  doubt  that  Miss  Savine  owed  much 
to  the  race  from  which  she  sprang  on  her  mother's  side. 
Dark  beauty,  grace  of  movement,  and,  when  she  chose  to 
indulge  in  it,  vivacious  speech,  all  betokened  a  Latin  ex- 
traction, while  the  slight  haughtiness,  which  Thurston 
thought  wonderfully  became  her,  was  the  dowry  of  a  line 
of  autocratic  landowners.  That  she  was  pleasant  to  look 
upon  was  proved  by  the  convincing  testimony  of  other 
men's  admiration  as  well  as  by  his  own  senses.     Now, 

127 


128  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

when  the  distance  between  them  was  in  some  respects 
diminishing,  she  seemed  even  further  away  from  him.  In 
her  presence  he  felt  himself  a  plain,  unpolished  man,  and 
knew  he  would  never  shine  in  the  light  play  of  wit  and 
satire  which  characterized  the  society  for  which  she  was 
fitted.  He  decided,  also,  that  she  had  probably  remained 
unmarried  because  she  could  find  no  one  who  came  up  to 
her  standard,  and  feared  that  he  himself  would  come  very 
far  beneath  it.  It  appeared  doubtful  that  he  could  ever 
acquire  the  gentler  virtues  Helen  had  described.  Never- 
theless, his  face  grew  set  as  he  determined  that  he  could 
prove  his  loyalty  in  the  manner  that  best  suited  him — by 
serving  her  father  faithfully. 

A  capitalist,  for  whom  Geoffrey  had  undertaken  several 
commissions,  halted  before  him. 

"  Hello !  Quite  alone,  Thurston,  and  worrying  over 
something  as  usual,"  he  began,  with  Western  brusqueness. 
"  What  has  gone  wrong  ?  Have  more  of  your  dams  burst, 
up  yonder?  One  would  fancy  that  floundering  around 
through  the  ice  and  snow  up  there  would  be  more  con- 
genial than  these  frivolities.  I'm  not  great  on  them 
either,  but  it's  a  matter  of  dollars  and  cents  with  me. 
You  perhaps  know  a  little  about  this  self-made — that's 
your  British  term,  I  think — company." 

"  Not  so  much  as  you  do,"  answered  Geoffrey.  "  Still, 
I  have  been  wondering  how  some  of  the  men  earned  their 
money.  I  understand  that  they  have  sense  enough  to  be 
proud  of  their  small  beginnings,  but  they  do  not  furnish 
instructive  details  as  to  the  precise  manner  in  which  they 
achieved  their  success." 

The  capitalist,  who  was  one  of  the  class  described, 
laughed  good-humoredly,  as  he  seated  himself  beside 
Thurston. 

"Well,  how  are  you  getting  on  up  in  the  valley?"  he 
inquired,  and  Geoffrey's  eyes  expressed  faint  amusement  as 
he  answered: 

"  As  well  as  we  expected,  and,  if  we  had  our  difficulties. 


A    TEST    OF    LOYALTY  129 

you  would  hardly  expect  me  to  tell  them  to  a  director  of 
the  Industrial  Enterprise  Company." 

"  Perhaps  not ! "  the  capitalist  smiled,  for  the  Indus- 
trial Enterprise  was  the  corporation  which  had  opposed 
Savine's  reclamation  scheme.  "  Anyway,  the  company  is 
a  speculation  with  me;  my  colleagues  manage  it  without 
much  of  my  assistance.  But  say,  what's  the  matter  with 
your  respected  chief  ?  He  has  come  right  out  of  his  shell 
to-night." 

The  speaker  glanced  towards  Savine,  who  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  group  of  well-known  men. 

"  I  tell  you,  Thurston,  there's  something  uncanny  about 
that  man  of  late,"  he  continued.  "  However,  knowing 
there's  no  use  trying  to  fool  you,  I'll  give  you  a  fair  warn- 
ing and  come  straight  to  something  I  may  as  well  say  now 
as  later.  Savine  will  go  down  like  a  house  of  cards  some 
day,  and  those  who  lean  upon  him  will  find  it,  in  our 
language,  frosty  weather.  Now,  suppose  we  made  you  a 
fair  offer,  would  you  join  us  ?  " 

A  curt  refusal  trembled  upon  Geoffrey's  lips,  when  he 
reflected  that,  as  soon  as  the  work  was  finished,  his  rela- 
tions with  Savine  would  be  drawn  closer  still.  In  the 
meantime,  it  was  not  advisable  to  give  any  hint  to  a  pos- 
sible enemy. 

"  I  couldn't  say  until  I  heard  what  the  offer  is,"  he  an- 
swered cautiously. 

"  You're  a  typical  cold-blooded  Britisher,"  asserted  the 
other  man.  "  I  don't  know  either.  I  leave  all  details  to 
the  members  of  the  company;  but  we've  a  secretary,  who 
understands  all  about  it,  in  this  house  to-night.  We're 
half  of  us  here  on  business,  directly  or  indirectly,  and  not 
for  pleasure,  so  it's  possible  he  may  talk  to  you.  But 
I  see  our  hostess  eying  us,  and  it's  time  we  walked 
along." 

They  moved  forward  together,  and  the  woman  whom 
they  approached,  beckoning  Geoffrey,  whom  she  had  for 
some  reason  taken  under  her  patronage,  said : 


130   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  There's  a  countrywoman  of  yours  present,  who  doesn't 
know  many  of  our  people  yet.  I  should  like  to  present 
you  to  her.  She  comes,  I  understand,  from  the  same  wilds 
which  sheltered  you.  Mrs.  Leslie,  this  is  a  special  pro- 
tege of  mine,  Mr.  Thurston,  who  could  give  you  all  in- 
formation about  the  mountains  in  which  your  husband 
talks  of  banishing  you." 

A  handsome,  tastefully-dressed  woman  turned  more 
fully  towards  them,  and  for  a  moment  Geoffrey  stood  still 
in  blank  astonishment.  The  average  man  would  find  it 
disconcerting  to  be  brought,  without  warning,  suddenly 
face  to  face  in  a  strange  country  with  a  woman  who  had 
discarded  him,  and  Thurston  showed  slight  embarrass- 
ment. 

"  Mrs.  Henry  Leslie !  But  you  evidently  know  each 
other ! "  exclaimed  the  hostess,  whose  quick  eyes  had  no- 
ticed his  startled  expression. 

Millicent  had  changed  since  the  last  time  Geoffrey  saw 
her.  She  had  lost  her  fresh  cream  and  rose  prettiness, 
but  had  gained  something  in  place  of  it,  and  though  her 
pale  blue  eyes  were  too  deeply  sunk,  her  face  had  acquired 
strength  and  dignity.  She  was,  as  he  had  always  found 
her,  perfectly  self-possessed.  With  a  quick  glance,  which 
expressed  appeal  and  warning,  she  said : 

"  We  are  not  quite  strangers.  I  knew  Mr.  Thurston  in 
England." 

The  young  Englishman  and  his  countrywoman  moved 
away  together,  and  Geoffrey  presently  found  himself  stand- 
ing in  a  broad  corridor  with  Millicent's  hand  upon  his 
arm.  Through  a  long  window  which  opened  into  a  bal- 
cony the  clear  moonlight  shone.  A  wide  vista  of  forest 
and  sparkling  sea  lured  them  out  of  doors. 

"  A  breath  of  fresh  air  would  be  delightful.  It  would 
be  quiet  out  there,  and  I  expect  you  have  much  to  tell 
me"  It  was  .Millicent  who  spoke,  with  quiet  composure, 
mid  her  companion  wondered  at  his  own  lack  of  feeling. 
After  i  lie  first  shock  of  the  surprise  he  was  sensible  of  no 


A    TEST    OF    LOYALTY  131 

particular  indignation  or  emotion.  It  seemed  as  if  any 
tenderness  that  he  had  once  felt  for  her  had  long  since 
disappeared.  There  was  little  that  he  cared  to  tell  her; 
but,  prompted  by  some  impulse  which  may  have  been  mere 
curiosity,  he  drew  the  window  open  and  they  passed  out 
upon  the  balcony. 

"  This  reminds  one  of  other  days,"  said  the  woman, 
with  a  sigh.  "  Had  I  known  you  were  here,  I  should  have 
dreaded  to  meet  you,  but  it  is  very  pleasant  to  see  you 
again.  You  have  surely  altered,  Geoffrey.  I  should  hardly 
have  expected  to  find  you  so  friendly." 

"  I  am  not  in  the  least  inclined  to  reproach  you  for  the 
past,"  was  the  sober  answer.  Geoffrey  was  distinctly  per- 
plexed, for  he  had  acquired  a  clearer  perception  of  Milli- 
cent's  character  since  he  left  England,  and  now  he  felt 
almost  indignant  with  himself  for  wondering  what  she 
wanted.  Glancing  at  her  face  he  was  conscious  of  a  cer- 
tain pity  as  well  as  a  vague  distrust,  for  it  was  evident 
that  her  life  had  not  been  altogether  smooth  or  her  health 
really  robust.  But  the  fact  that  she  should  recall  the 
far-off  days  in  England  jarred  upon  him. 

"  It  is  a  relief  to  learn  that  you  are  not  angry,  at  least. 
What  are  you  doing  over  here,  Geoffrey  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Reclaiming  a  valley  from  a  river.  Living  up  among 
the  mountains  in  the  snow,"  was  the  answer. 

"  And  you  like  it?  You  can  find  happiness  in  the  hard 
life  ? " 

"  Better  than  anything  I  ever  undertook  before.  Hap- 
piness is  a  somewhat  indefinite  term,  and,  perhaps  because 
I  have  seldom  found  leisure  to  consider  whether  I  am 
happy  or  not,  the  presumption  is  that  I  am  at  least  con- 
tented." 

Millicent  sighed  and  her  face  grew  sad,  while  Thurston 
rebelled  against  an  instinctive  conviction  that  she  knew  a 
wistful  expression  was  becoming  to  her  and  was  calculated 
to  appeal  to  a  male  observer. 

"  One  could  envy  you ! "  she  said  softly,  and  Geoffrey, 


132   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

rising  superior  to  all  critical  thoughts,  felt  only  sincere 
pity. 

"  Have  you  not  been  happy  in — Canada,  Millicent  ?  "  he 
inquired,  and  if  the  woman  noticed  how  nearly  he  had 
avoided  a  blunder,  which  is  distinctly  probable,  she  at 
least  made  no  sign. 

"  I  can't  resist  the  temptation  to  answer  you  frankly, 
Geoffrey,"  she  replied.  "  I  have  had  severe  trials,  and 
some,  I  fear,  have  left  their  mark  on  me.  There  are  ex- 
periences after  which  one  is  never  quite  the  same.  You 
heard  of  the  financial  disaster  which  overtook  us?  Yes? 
Black  days  followed  it,  but  Mr.  Leslie  has  hopes  of  suc- 
ceeding in  this  country,  and  that  will  brighten  the  future 
— indirectly  even — for  me." 

"  Ah !  "  Geoffrey  spoke  with  a  peculiar  inflection  of 
the  voice,  for  though  he  could  forgive  the  woman  now, 
he  could  not  forget  his  resentment  towards  the  man 
who  had  supplanted  him.  "  For  your  sake,  I  hope  he 
will." 

Millicent  glanced  at  him  sideways,  and,  as  if  anxious 
to  change  the  subject,  asked: 

"  Is  it  the  Orchard  Valley  you  are  endeavoring  to  re- 
claim? Yes.  I  might  have  guessed  it.  I  have  heard 
people  say  that  the  scheme  of  M!r.  Savine,  if  that  is  his 
name,  is  impracticable.  It  is  characteristic  of  you,  Geof- 
frey, to  play  out  a  losing  game,  but,  with  one's  future 
at  stake,  is  it  wise  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  that  I  was  ever  particularly  remarkable 
for  wisdom,"  Geoffrey  answered  with  a  shake  of  the  head. 
"  The  scheme  in  question  is,  however,  by  no  means  so  im- 
practicable as  some  persons  imagine  it  to  be." 

"  Then  you  still  hope  for  success.  Have  you  not  failed 
in  one  or  two  of  your  efforts  ?  " 

M  illicciit's  voice  was  politely  indifferent,  but  a  certain 
keenness  in  her  eyes,  which  did  not  escape  Geoffrey's  no- 
betrayed  more  than  a  casual  interest.  Thurston  af- 
terwards decided  that  the  shock  of  the  unexpected  meeting 


A    TEST    OF    LOYALTY  133 

had    the   effect   of   rendering  his  perceptions   unusually 
quick. 

"  I  have  not  been  often  successful,"  he  admitted,  with 
a  laugh,  "  but  my  employer  is,  as  you  may  have  heard,  a 
sanguine  person,  and  has  not  hitherto  been  beaten." 

"  I  hope  he  will  not  be  in  this  instance,"  said  Millicent, 
and  it  occurred  to  Geoffrey  that  she  was  concealing  a 
sense  of  disappointment.  They  talked  a  little  longer  and 
then  she  remarked :  "  I  am  afraid  we  have  been  shame- 
fully neglecting  our  social  duties,  but  as  we  shall,  in 
all  probability,  meet  now  and  then,  I  hope — in  spite  of  all 
that  has  happened — it  will  be  as  good  friends." 

Again  the  man  felt  that  the  meeting  had  not  been 
brought  about  wholly  by  accident,  but  he  bent  his  head 
as  he  answered : 

"  If  ever  you  should  need  a  friend,  you  can,  for  the  sake 
of  old  times,  count  on  me." 

"  One  of  the  finest  views  in  the  province,"  said  a  voice 
behind  them.  "  We  are  proud  of  the  prospect  from  this 
balcony.  If  you  stand  here,  Miss  Helen,  you  can  enjoy 
it,  and  tell  me  if  you  have  anything  better  at  High 
Maples.  Most  romantic  spot  on  such  a  night  for  a  quiet 
chat,  and  if  I  was  only  twenty  years  younger,  my  dear 

young  lady "   Then  the  speaker  evidently  retired  with 

some  precipitation  from  the  window,  as  he  added,  "  No, 
never  mind  drawing  the  curtain,  Savine.  If  she  is  not 
over  tired  I  can  show  your  daughter  something  interesting 
in  the  conservatory  instead." 

"  Eomantic  spot  occupied  already !  "  The  laugh  which 
accompanied  the  sound  of  retreating  footsteps  and  the 
rustle  of  drapery,  was  unmistakably  that  of  Julius  Sa- 
vine. 

Geoffrey,  who  fumed  inwardly  at  the  reflection  that  his 
attitude  was  distinctly  liable  to  misconception,  straight- 
ened himself  with  perhaps  too  great  a  suddenness,  while 
the  faint  amusement  in  his  companion's  face  heightened 
his  displeasure.    Millicent  had  managed  to  obtain  a  sur- 


134.      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

vey  of  the  intruders,  and  when  sure  that  they  had  moved 
away,  she  rose,  saying,  "So  that  is  the  beautiful  Miss 
Savine!  No  doubt  you  have  seen  her,  and,  like  all  the 
rest,  admire  her  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  confessed  Geoffrey.  "  I  can  honestly  say  I  do." 
Millicent  regarded  him  curiously. 

"  You  have  heard  that  we  women  seldom  praise  one  an- 
other, and  therefore,  while  admitting  that  she  is  coldly 
handsome,  I  should  imagine  Miss  Savine  to  be  a  trying 
person,"  she  commented.  "  Now  we  must  return  to  our 
social  duties — in  my  case,  at  least,  no  one  could  call 
them  pleasures." 

Some  little  time  later  Helen,  whose  eyes  had  kindled 
for  a  moment  when  her  gray-haired  escort  led  her  towards 
the  balcony,  heard  the  bluff  Canadian  answer  the  ques- 
tion that  had  been  in  her  mind. 

"  Who  was  the  lady  ?  Can't  exactly  say.  Her  hus- 
band's Leslie,  the  Britisher,  who  started  the  land-agency 
offices,  you  will  remember  there  was  trouble  about,  and  is 
now,  I  believe,  secretary  to  the  Industrial  Enterprise. 
Frankly,  I  don't  like  the  man — strikes  me  as  a  smart  ad- 
venturer, and  my  wife  does  not  take  to  Mrs.  Leslie.  The 
man  on  the  balcony  was  Thurston,  Savine's  assistant,  and 
a  good  fellow.  He  generally  follows  humbly  in  Miss 
Savine's  train,  and,  considering  Leslie's  connection  with 
the  rival  company,  I  don't  quite  see  what  he  could  be 
doing  in  that  gallery." 

Helen  was  piqued.  She  was  too  proud  to  admit  to  her- 
self that  she  was  jealous,  but  she  had  not  risen  superior 
to  all  the  characteristics  of  her  sex;  and,  knowing  some- 
thing of  her  father's  business  affairs,  she  was  also  puzzled. 
Thurston's  attitude  towards  his  companion  had  not  been 
that  of  a  casual  acquaintance,  to  say  the  least,  and  Helen 
could  not  help  wondering  what  could  be  his  connection 
with  the  wife  of  one  whose  interests,  she  gathered,  must 
be  diametrically  opposed  to  her  father's.  Then,  though 
endeavoring  to  decide  that  it  did  not  matter,  she  deter- 


A    TEST    OF    LOYALTY  135 

mined  to  put  Thurston  to  the  test  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. 

Meantime  Geoffrey  stood  alone  for  a  few  minutes  look- 
ing out  into  the  moonlit  night.  "  I  am  growing  brutally 
suspicious,  and  poor  Millicent  has  suffered — she  can't 
well  hide  it,"  he  told  himself.  "Well,  we  were  fond  of 
each  other  once,  and,  whether  it's  her  husband  or  adver- 
sity, whenever  I  can  help  her,  I  must  try  to  do  so."  It 
was  the  revolt  of  an  open  nature  against  the  evidence  of 
his  senses,  but  even  while  Geoffrey  framed  this  resolu- 
tion something  seemed  to  whisper,  "  Was  she  ever  fond 
of  you?  There  is  that  in  the  woman's  voice  which  does 
not  ring  true." 

He  had  hardly  turned  back  to  rejoin  the  other  members 
of  his  party  when  a  business  acquaintance  met  him. 

"  I  want  you  to  spare  a  few  minutes  for  a  countryman 
who  has  been  inquiring  about  you,"  said  the  man. 
"  Mr.  Leslie,  this  is  Mr.  Thurston — the  secretary  of  the 
Industrial  Enterprise ! " 

The  business  acquaintance  withdrew,  and  Geoffrey's  lips 
set  tight  as  he  turned  towards  Leslie  who  betrayed  a  cer- 
tain uneasiness  in  spite  of  his  nonchalant  manner.  He 
was  a  dark-haired  man  with  a  pale  face,  which  had  grown 
more  heavy  and  sensual  than  it  was  as  Geoffrey  remem- 
bered it. 

"  I  don't  know  whether  I  should  say  this  is  a  pleasure," 
Leslie  remarked  lightly.  "  There  is  no  use  disguising  the 
fact  that  we  last  met  under  somewhat  unfortunate  cir- 
cumstances, but  I  give  you  my  word  that  it  was  too  late 
to  suggest  that  my  employers  should  choose  another  emis- 
sary when  I  discovered  your  identity.  Where  commercial 
interests  are  concerned,  surely  we  can  both  rise  superior 
to  mere  sentiment." 

"  There  are  things  which  it  is  uncommonly  hard  to  for- 
get," Geoffrey  replied  coldly.  "  The  question  is,  however 
— What  do  you  want  with  me  ?  "  He  meant  his  tone  and 
pose  to  be  anything  but  conciliatory. 


136   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  I  want  the  favor  of  a  business  interview  before  you 
return,"  said  Leslie,  trying  to  hide  his  discomfiture,  and 
Geoffrey  answered : 

"  That  is  hardly  possible.     I  return  early  to-morrow." 

"  Can  you  drive  over  to  my  quarters  now?  " 

"  Xo.     I  desire  to  see  my  chief  before  I  go." 

"  It  is  confoundedly  unfortunate,"  Leslie  commented, 
apparently  glad  of  some  excuse  for  expressing  his  disgust. 
"  Well,  perhaps  nobody  will  disturb  us  for  a  few  minutes 
in  yonder  corridor.  You  can  regard  me  as  a  servant  of 
the  Industrial  Enterprise.  Will  you  listen  to  what  I 
have  to  say  ?  " 

"  I'm  ready  to  listen  to  the  great  Company's  secretary," 
said  Geoffrey,  with  a  bluntness  under  which  the  other 
winced,  as  he  turned  towards  the  corridor. 

"I'll  be  brief,"  began  Leslie.  "The  fact  is  that  we 
want  a  capable  man  accustomed  to  the  planning  and  con- 
struction of  irrigation  works,  and  two  of  our  directors 
rather  fancy  you.  The  right  man  would  have  full  control 
of  practical  operations,  and  I  have  a  tolerably  free  hand 
in  respect  to  financial  conditions.  The  main  thing  we 
wish  to  discover  is,  are  you  willing  to  consider  an  offer 
of  the  position  ?  " 

It  was  on  the  surface  a  simple  business  proposition,  but 
Thurston's  nostrils  dilated  and  his  brows  contracted,  for 
he  guessed  what  lay  behind  it. 

"  I've  heard  Savine  is  a  liberal  man,"  continued  Leslie, 
who  mistook  Thurston's  hesitation.  "  Still,  considering 
your  valuable  experience  in  the  Orchard  Valley,  I  have 
power  to  outbid  him.  You  certainly  will  not  lose  finan- 
cially by  throwing  in  your  lot  with  us." 

Then  Thurston's  anger  mastered  him,  and  he  flung 
prudence  to  the  winds. 

"  Your  employers  have  chosen  a  worthy  messenger,"  he 
declared,  so  fiercely  that  Leslie  recoiled.  "  Did  you  sup- 
pose that  I  would  sell  my  benefactor,  for  that  is  what  it 
amounts   to?     Confusion  to  you  and  the  rogues  behind 


A    TEST    OF    LOYALTY  137 

you !  There's  another  score  between  us,  and  I  feel  greatly 
tempted  to " 

He  looked  ready  to  yield  to  the  unmentioned  tempta- 
tion. Leslie,  glancing  around  anxiously,  backed  away 
from  him,  but  restrained  himself  with  an  effort.  Thurs- 
ton stood  panting  with  rage.  There  was  a  sound  of  ap- 
proaching footsteps,  and  the  secretary  slipped  away,  leav- 
ing the  irate  engineer  face  to  face  with  an  amused  elderly 
gentleman  and  Helen  Savine.  Geoffrey  did  not  know 
how  much  or  how  little  they  had  seen.  Helen  beckoned 
to  him. 

"  My  father  has  looked  tired  during  the  last  hour,"  she 
said  aside.  "  I  have  been  warned  that  excitement  may 
prove  dangerous,  but  hardly  care  to  remind  him  of  it. 
Would  you,  as  a  favor  to  me,  persuade  him  to  return  home 
with  you  ?  " 

There  was  no  doubt  of  Thurston's  devotion,  for  Helen 
had  eyes  to  see,  and  she  sighed  a  little,  but  contentedly, 
when  he  hurried  away.  Nevertheless,  she  was  still  per- 
plexed, for  she  had  seen  Mrs.  Leslie  looking  at  him  plead- 
ingly, and  now  Mr.  Leslie  shrank  away  from  him.  Mrs. 
Leslie  was  certainly  attractive,  and  yet  Helen  thought 
that  she  knew  Thurston's  character. 

Geoffrey  found  Savine,  who  appeared  to  have  suddenly 
collapsed  as  if  the  fire  of  brilliancy  had  burned  itself  out. 
With  more  tact  than  he  usually  possessed,  Thurston  per- 
suaded the  older  man  to  take  his  leave. 

As  they  all  stood  on  the  broad  wooden  steps  Helen 
stretched  out  her  hand  to  Thurston. 

"  Thank  you,  Geoffrey,"  she  said  softly.  "  Believe  me, 
I  am  grateful." 

Standing  bareheaded  beside  a  pillar,  Thurston  looked 
after  them  as  they  drove  away.  It  was  the  first  time 
Helen  had  called  him  "  Geoffrey,"  and  he  fancied  that  he 
had  seen  even  more  than  kindness  in  her  eyes. 

"  And  it  is  her  father  whom  they  tempted  me  to  betray ! 
Damn    them ! "    he    growled.     "  The    only    honest    man 


138   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

among  them  included  me  among  those  who  lean  upon 
8  a  vine !  Savine  will  need  a  stay  himself  presently,  and 
one,  at  least,  will  not  fail  him.  Ah,  again! — what  the 
devil  are  you  wanting  ?  " 

The  last  words  were  spoken  clearly,  but  Leslie,  to  whom 
they  were  addressed,  smiled  malevolently. 

"  It  would  pay  you  to  be  civil,"  he  threatened.  "  I 
have  no  particular  reason  to  love  you,  and  might  prove  a 
troublesome  enemy.  However,  because  my  financial  in- 
terests, which  are  bound  up  with  my  employers',  come 
first,  I  warn  you  that  you  are  foolish  to  hold  on  to  an. 
associate,  who  has  strong  men  against  him,  a  speculator 
whose  best  days  are  over.  I'll  give  you  time  to  cool  down 
and  think  over  my  suggestion." 

"  You  and  I  can  have  no  dealings,"  declared  Geoffrey. 
'•'What's  done  cannot  be  undone — but  keep  clear  of  me. 
As  sure  as  there's  a  justice,  which  will  bring  you  to  book, 
even  without  my  help,  we'll  crush  you,  if  you  get  in 
Savine's  way,  or  mine." 

"  I  think  this  is  hardly  becoming  to  either  of  us,  and 
the  next  time  the  Company  wants  your  views  it  can  send 
another  envoy,"  asserted  Leslie. 

"  In  the  expressive  Western  idiom,  it  would  save 
trouble  if  you  keep  on  thinking  in  just  that  way,"  Geoffrey 
rejoined. 

The  two  men  parted,  Leslie  to  go  back  to  where  Mil- 
licent  was  holding  a  group  of  men  interested  by  her  forced 
gayety  and  Geoffrey  to  walk  slowly  out  into  the  moonlight 
where  he  could  think  of  Helen  and  wonder  how  confidently 
lie  might  hope  to  win  her  love. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE   WORK  OF  AN   ENEMY 

It  was  a  bitter  morning  when  a  weary  man,  sprinkled 
white  with  powdery  snow,  came  limping  into  Thurston's 
camp,  which  was  then  pitched  in  the  canon.  A  pitiless 
wind  swept  down  from  the  range  side  across  the  thrash- 
ing pines,  and  filled  the  deep  rift  with  its  shrill  moaning 
which  sounded  above  the  diapason  of  the  shrunken  river. 
A  haze  of  frost-dried  snow  infinitesimally  fine,  which  stung 
the  unprotected  skin  like  the  prick  of  hot  needles,  whirled 
before  the  wind  and  then  thinned,  leaving  bare  the  higher 
shoulders  of  the  hills,  though  a  rush  of  dingy  vapor  hid 
the  ice-ribbed  peaks  above.  The  canon  was  a  scene  of 
appalling  desolation,  but  few  of  the  long-booted  men  who 
hurried  among  the  boulders  had  leisure  to  contemplate  it. 
The  men  were  working  for  Geoffrey  Thurston,  who  did 
not  encourage  idleness. 

So  the  stranger  came  almost  unnoticed  into  the  center  of 
the  camp  where  Thurston  saw  him,  and  asked  sharply, 
"  Where  do  you  come  from,  and  what  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  I'm  a  frame-carpenter,"  answered  the  new  arrival. 
"  Got  fired  from  the  Hastings  saw-mill  when  work  slacked 
down.  Couldn't  find  anybody  who  wanted  me  at  Van- 
couver, so  I  struck  out  for  the  mountains  and  mines. 
Found  worse  luck  up  here;  spent  all  my  money  and  wore 
my  clothes  out,  but  the  boss  of  the  Orchard  Mill,  who  took 
me  for  a  few  days,  said  I  might  tell  you  he  recommended 
me.  I'm  about  played  out  with  getting  here,  and  I'm 
mighty  hungry." 

Geoffrey  looked  the  man  over,  and  decided  there  was 
truth  in  the  latter  part  of  his  story.  "  Take  this  spanner 
and  wade  across  to  the  reef  yonder,"  he  said.     "  You  can 

139 


140  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

begin  by  giving  aid  to  those  men  who  are  bolting  the 
beams  down/' 

The  stranger  glanced  dubiously  at  the  rush  of  icy  water, 
thick  with  jagged  cakes  of  frozen  snow,  then  at  his 
dilapidated  foot  gear,  and  hesitated.  "I'm  not  great  at 
swimming.     It  looks  deep,"  he  objected. 

"  You  can  walk,  I  suppose,"  Geoffrey  answered.  "  If 
you  do,  it  won't  drown  you." 

The  man  prepared  to  obey.  He  had  reached  the  edge 
of  the  water  when  Geoffrey  called  him.  "  I  see  you're 
willing,  and  I'll  take  you  for  a  few  weeks  any  way,"  he 
said.  "  In  the  meantime  a  rest  wouldn't  do  you  much 
harm,  and  the  cook  might  find  you  something  to  keep  you 
from  starving  until  supper,  if  you  asked  him  civilly." 

"  Thanks !  "  the  man  answered,  with  a  curious  expres- 
sion in  his  face.  "I  am  a  bit  used  up,  and  I  guess  I'll 
see  the  cook." 

Work  proceeded  umtil  the  winter's  dusk  fell,  when  a 
bountiful  supper  was  served.  The  stranger,  who  did  full 
justice  to  the  meal,  showed  himself  a  capable  hand  when 
work  was  resumed  under  the  flaring  light  of  several  huge 
lamps.  That  night  two  of  his  new  comrades  sat  in  the 
cook-shed  discussing  the  stranger.  One  was  James  Gil- 
low,  whom  Geoffrey  had  first  employed  at  Helen's  sugges- 
tion, and  now  replaced  the  man  he  formerly  assisted.  He 
was  apparently  without  ambition,  and  chiefly  remarkable 
for  an  antipathy  to  physical  effort.  Although  he  had  a 
good  education,  he  found  that  cooking  suited  him.  He 
sat  upon  an  overturned  bucket  discoursing  whimsically, 
while  Mattawa  Tom,  who  acted  as  Thurston's  foreman, 
peeled  potatoes  for  him.  The  cook-shanty  was  warm  and 
snug,  and  Gillow  made  those  to  whom  he  granted  the 
right  of  entry  work  for  the  privilege. 

"  Strikes  me  as  queer,"  said  the  big  axeman,  with  a  grin, 
whin  the  cook  halted  to  refill  his  pipe.  "  Strikes  me  as 
queer,  it  does,  that  some  of  you  fellows  who  know  so 
much  kin  do  so  little.     Knowledge  ain't  worth  a  cent  un- 


THE    WORK   OF   AN   ENEMY  141 

less  you've  got  the  rustle.  Now  there's  the  boss.  You 
talk  the  same  talk,  an'  he  can't  well  know  more  than  you 
seem  to  do,  but  look  where  he  is,  while  you  stop  right 
down  at  the  bottom  running  a  cook-shanty.  Guess  you 
were  born  tired,  English  Jim." 

"  I  dare  say  you're  right,"  answered  Gillow.  "  Other 
folks  in  the  Old  Country  have  said  the  same  thing,  though 
they  didn't  put  it  so  neatly.  The  fact  is,  some  men,  like 
Thurston,  are  born  to  wear  themselves  out  trying  to 
manage  things,  while  I  was  intended  for  philosophic  con- 
templation. He's  occasionally  hard  to  get  on  with,  but 
since  I  came  here,  I'm  willing  to  acknowledge  that  men 
of  his  species  are  useful,  and  I  have  struck  harder  masters 
in  this  great  Dominion." 

Mattawa  Tom  laughed  hoarsely  as  he  responded :  "  I 
should  say !  You  found  him  hard  the  day  you  ran  black 
lines  all  over  his  drawings  and  nearly  burnt  his  shanty  up, 
trying  to  prove  he  didn't  know  his  business,  when  you  was 
brim-full  of  Red  Pine  whiskey." 

"  It  was  poison,"  said  Gillow,  with  unruffled  good 
humor.  "  Several  bottles  of  genuine  whiskey  would  not 
confuse  me,  but  I  have  sworn  off  since  the  day  you  men- 
tion, partly  to  oblige  Thurston,  who  seemed  to  desire  it, 
and  because  I  cant  get  any  decent  liquor.  But  what  do 
you  think  of  our  latest  acquisition?" 

"  He  kin  work,  which  is  more  than  you  could,  before 
the  boss  taught  you,"  was  the  dry  answer.  "  But  there's 
something  odd  about  him.  You  saw  the  outfit  he  came 
in  with  ?  Couldn't  have  swapped  it  with  a  Siwash  In- 
dian— well,  the  man  has  better  clothes  than  you  or  I  on 
underneath,  and  if  he  was  so  blame  hard  up.  what  did  he 
offer  Jake  five  dollars  for  his  old  gum  boots  for  ?  " 

"  Afraid  of  wetting  his  feet.  Most  sensible  person, 
considering  the  weather,"  remarked  Gillow,  indifferently. 

"'Fraid  of  wetting  his  feet!  This  is  just  where  horse 
sense  beats  knowledge.  That  fellow  is  scared  of  nothing 
around  this  camp.     Hasn't  it  struck  you  the  boss  is  going 


142   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

to  put  through  a  big  contract  in  a  way  that's  not  been 
tried  before,  and  that  there  are  some  folks  who  would 
put  up  a  good  many  dollars  to  see  him  let  down  nicely  ?  " 

"  Well  ?  "  Gillow  questioned  with  a  show  of  interest,  and 
the  foreman  nodded  sagaciously  as  he  answered: 

"  Whoever  busts  the  boss  up  will  have  to  get  both  feet 
on  the  neck  of  Mattawa  Tom  first,  and  that's  not  going  to 
be  easy.     I'll  keep  my  eyes  right  on  to  that  fellow." 

Tom  went  out,  and  Gillow,  awakening  at  midnight, 
saw  that  his  blankets  were  still  empty.  The  same  thing 
happened  several  times,  and  it  was  well  for  Thurston  that 
he  had  the  true  leader's  gift  of  inspiring  his  followers  with 
loyalty,  for  one  night  a  week  later  the  foreman,  who  had 
kept  his  own  counsel,  shook  Gillow  out  of  his  slumber. 
The  sleepy  man,  who  groped  for  a  boot  to  fling  at  the  dis- 
turber of  his  peace,  abandoned  the  benevolent  intention 
when  he  saw  his  comrade's  face  under  the  hanging  lamp. 

"  Don't  ask  no  fool  questions,  but  get  your  things  on 
and  come  with  me,"  Tom  commanded. 

Five  minutes  later  Gillow,  shivering  and  reluctant, 
turned  out  into  the  frost.  It  was  a  bitter  night,  and  his 
breath  froze  upon  his  mustache.  The  snow  and  froth 
of  the  river  glimmered  spectrally,  and  when  they  had  left 
the  camp  some  distance  behind,  there  was  light  enough 
to  see  a  black  figure  crawl  up  a  ladder  leading  to  a  wire 
rope  stretched  tight  in  mid-air  above  the  torrent.  A 
trolley  hung  beneath  it  by  means  of  which  men  and 
material  were  hauled  across  the  chasm. 

"  Get  down  here !  "  whispered  Tom.  "  We'll  watch 
him.  If  we  should  fall  over  any  more  of  these  blame 
rocks  he'd  see  us  certain." 

Gillow  was  glad  to  obey,  for,  though  there  was  faint 
moonlight,  lie  had  already  cut  one  knee  cruelly.  It  was 
bitterly  cold  beneath  the  boulder  where  he  crouched  in 
the  snow,  and  when  the  black  object,  which  worked  its 
wa\  along  the  bending  cable,  had  disappeared  in  th 
gloom  of  overhanging  rocks  on  the  opposite  shore,  there 


THE    WORK    OF    AN    ENEMY  143 

was  nothing  to  see  but  the  tossing  spray  of  the  river.  The 
stream  was  still  a  formidable  torrent,  though  now  that  the 
feeding  snows  were  frozen  fast,  it  was  shrunken  far  below 
its  summer  level.  A  good  many  minutes  had  passed  with 
painful  slowness  when  Gillow,  who  regretted  that  he  had 
left  the  snug  cook-shed,  said : 

"  This  is  distinctly  monotonous,  and  it's  about  time 
we  struck  back  to  camp.  Guess  that  fellow  has  tackled 
too  much  Eed  Pine  whiskey,  and  is  just  walking  round  to 
cool  himself." 

In  answer  the  foreman  grasped  the  speaker's  shoulder, 
and  stretched  out  a  pointing  hand.  The  moonlight 
touched  one  angle  of  the  rock  upon  the  opposite  shore 
which  encroached  upon  the  frothing  water,  and  the  dark 
figure  showed  sharply  against  it.  The  figure  vanished,  re- 
appeared, and  sank  from  sight  again.  When  this  had 
happened  several  times  Gillow  remarked :  "  Perhaps  we 
had  better  go  over.     The  man's  clean  gone  mad." 

"  No,  sir !  "  objected  Mattawa  Tom.  "  No  more  mad 
than  you.  See  what  he's  after  ?  No  !  You  don't  remem- 
ber, either,  how  mighty  hard  it  was  to  wedge  in  the  hold- 
fasts for  the  chain  guys  stiffening  the  front  of  the  dam, 
or  how  the  keys  work  loose?  There  wouldn't  be  much  of 
the  boring  machines  or  dam  framing  left  if  the  chains 
pulled  those  wedges  out.     Catch  on  to  the  idee  ? " 

Gillow  gasped.  The  huge  timber  framing,  which  held 
back  the  river  so  that  the  costly  boring  machines  could 
work  upon  the  reef,  cumbering  part  of  its  bed,  had  been 
built  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  when  finished 
Thurston  had  found  it  necessary  to  strengthen  it  by  heavy 
chains  made  fast  in  the  rock  above.  The  sockets  to  which 
these  were  secured  had  been  wedged  into  deep-sunk  holes, 
but  more  than  once  some  of  the  hard  wood  keys  had 
worked  loose,  and  Gillow  could  guess  what  would  happen 
if  many  were  partially  set  free  at  the  same  time. 

"  If  he  hammered  three  or  four  of  those  wedges  <  lear 
it  would  only  need  a  bang  on  another  one  to  give  the  river 


1U      THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

its  way/'  Gillow  said  excitedly.  "  Then  it  would  take 
Thurston  six  months  to  fix  up  the  damage,  if  he  ever  did, 
and  nobody  would  know  how  it  happened.  The  cold- 
blooded brute's  in  the  maintenance  gang  ?  " 

"Just  so.  A  blame  smart  man,  too!"  asserted  Mat- 
tawa  Tom.  "  I  guess  the  boss  wouldn't  want  everybody 
to  know.  Rustle  back  your  hardest  and  bring  him 
along." 

Fifteen  minutes  later  Thurston  took  his  place  behind  the 
boulder,  and,  because  the  light  was  clearer  now,  he  could 
dimly  see  the  man  swinging  a  heavy  hammer,  against  the 
rock.  He  knew  that  the  miscreant,  whose  business  was  to 
prevent  the  possibility  of  such  accidents,  need  only  start 
a  few  more  keys,  which  he  would  probably  do  when  the 
dam  was  clear  of  men,  and  many  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  property  and  the  result  of  months  of  labor  would  be 
swallowed  b}r  the  river.  His  face  paled  with  fierce  anger 
when  he  recognized  this  fact. 

"  I  want  that  man,"  he  declared  with  shut  teeth.  "  I 
want  him  so  badly  that  I'd  forfeit  five  hundred  dollars 
sooner  than  miss  him.  Slip  forward,  Gillow,  as  much  out 
of  sight  as  you  can,  and  hide  yourself  on  the  other  side 
of  the  ladder.  Mattawa  and  I  will  wait  for  him  here,  and 
among  us  three  we  ought  to  make  sure  of  him." 

Gillow,  who  stole  forward  stooping,  swore  softly  as  he 
fell  over  many  obstacles  on  the  way.  The  man  they 
wanted  became  visible,  ascending  another  ladder  across 
the  river.  Then,  hanging  in  the  suspended  trolley,  he 
moved,  a  black  shape  clear  against  the  snow — along  the 
wire  which  stretched  high  across  the  gulf.  While  the 
others  watched  him,  his  progress  grew  slower  on  reaching 
the  hollow,  where  the  cable  bent  slightly  under  the  weight 
at  its  center.  Suddenly  the  car's  progress  was  checked 
altogether,  and  it  began  to  move  in  the  opposite  direction 
more  rapidly  than  before,  while  Thurston  sprang  to  his 
feet. 

"  Slack  the  setting  up  tackles,  Gillow.     Hurry  for  your 


THE    WORK    OF   AN    ENEMY  145 

life,"  he  shouted.  "  He'll  cast  the  cable  loose  and  be  off 
by  the  Indian  trail  into  the  ranges,  if  he  once  gets  across." 

Gillow  ran  his  best,  where  running  of  any  kind  was 
barely  possible  even  by  daylight.  He  knew  that  his  mas- 
ter was  slow  to  forgive  those  whose  carelessness  thwarted 
any  plan,  and  that,  while  taking  the  easier  way  over  in- 
stead of  crawling  round  a  ledge,  he  had  probably  alarmed 
the  fugitive.  He  reached  the  foot  of  the  ladder.  Climb- 
ing up  in  a  desperate  hurry,  he  cast  loose  the  end  of  the 
tackle  by  means  of  which  the  cable  was  set  up  taut,  but 
neglected  in  his  haste  to  take  a  turn  with  the  hemp  rope 
about  a  post,  which  would  have  eased  him  of  most  of  the 
strain. 

"  Got  him  safe !  "  cried  Tom  from  Mattawa,  scrambling 
to  the  top  of  the  boulder,  as  the  curve  of  the  wire  rope 
high  above  their  heads  increased.  In  spite  of  the  fugi- 
tive's efforts,  the  trolley  from  which  he  was  suspended  ran 
back  to  the  slackest  part  of  the  loop  that  sagged  down 
nearer  the  river.  Thurston,  who  watched  him,  nodded 
with  a  sense  of  savage  satisfaction.  He  did  not  for  a  mo- 
ment believe  that,  of  his  own  initiative,  any  workman 
would  have  made  a  long  journey  or  would  have  run  consid- 
erable personal  risk  to  do  him  an  injury.  That  was  why 
he  was  so  anxious  to  secure  the  offender. 

The  curve  grew  rapidly  deeper,  until  the  rope  stretched 
into  two  diagonals  between  its  fastenings  on  either  shore. 
Then  the  trolley  descended  with  a  run  towards  the  river, 
and  Geoffrey  ran  forward,  shouting,  "The  weight's  too 
much  for  Gillow.  Bring  along  the  coil  of  line  from  the 
tool  locker,  Tom.  Hurry,  I  don't  want  to  drown  the 
rascal." 

What  had  happened  was  simple.  The  cook,  endeavor- 
ing to  take  a  turn  of  the  line  too  late,  had  failed,  and  the 
hemp  ran  through  his  half-frozen  fingers,  chafing  the  skin 
from  them.  Seeing  Thurston  floundering  in  his  direction 
over  the  boulders,  he  valiantly  strove  to  check  it,  regardless 
of  the  pain  until  it  was  whipped  clear  of  his  slackening 


146   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

grasp  and  the  trolley  rushed  downwards  towards  the  tor- 
rent. Thurston  was  abreast  of  it  before  it  splashed  in, 
and  had  just  time  to  see  its  occupant,  still  clutching  the 
rope,  drawn  under  by  the  sinking  wire,  before  he  plunged 
recklessly  into  the  foam. 

The  water  was  horribly  cold,  and  the  first  shock  left 
him  gasping  and  almost  paralyzed.  The  stream  was  run- 
ning fast,  and  rebounding  in  white  foam  from  great 
stones  and  uneven  ledges  below.  But  the  distance  was 
short,  and  Thurston  was  a  strong  swimmer,  so  almost 
before  the  man  had  risen,  he  was  within  a  few  yards  of 
the  struggling  figure.  Hardly  had  Geoffrey  clutched  the 
man  before  Mattawa  Tom,  who  had,  meantime,  run  down 
stream,  whirling  a  coil  of  line,  loosed  it,  and  the  folds, 
well  directed,  shot  through  the  air  towards  Geoffrey,  un- 
coiling as  they  came.  By  good  fortune  Thurston  was  able 
to  seize  the  end  and  to  pass  it  around  them  both,  when 
— for  Gillow  had  by  this  time  joined  his  companion — the 
two  men  blundered  backwards  up  the  contracted  beach, 
and  Thurston  and  the  fugitive  were  drawn  shorewards  to- 
gether, until  their  feet  struck  bottom. 

Breathless  and  dripping,  they  staggered  out,  and,  be- 
cause Geoffrey  still  clutched  the  stranger's  jacket,  the  man 
said: 

"  Mightily  obliged  to  you !  But  you  can  let  up  now 
there's  no  more  swimming.  I  couldn't  run  very  far,  if 
it  was  worth  while  trying  to." 

"  You  needn't  trouble  to  thank  me,"  was  the  answer. 
"  It  wasn't  because  I  thought  the  world  would  miss  you 
that  I  went  into  the  water;  but  I  can't  expect  much  sense 
from  a  half-drowned  man.  Do  you  think  the  rest  of  the 
boys  have  heard  us,  Tom  ?  " 

The  foreman  glanced  towards  the  tents  clustered  in  the 
mouth  of  a  ravine  above,  and  seeing  no  sign  of  life  there, 
shook   his  head,   whereupon   Geoffrey  directed: 

"Take   him   quietly   to   the   cook-shed,    and   give   him 


THE    WORK    OF   AN    ENEMY  147 

some  whiskey.  I've  no  doubt  that  in  spite  of  my  orders 
you  have  some.  Lend  him  dry  clothes,  and  bring  him 
along  to  my  shanty  as  soon  as  he's  ready.  Meantime, 
rouse  the  maintenance  foreman,  and,  if  any  wedges  have 
worked  loose,  let  him  drive  them  home." 

"  You're  a  nice  man,"  commented  Mattawa  Tom,  sur- 
veying the  stranger  disgustedly  as  the  man  stood  with  the 
water  draining  from  him  in  the  cook-shed.  "Here,  get 
into  these  things  and  keep  them  as  a  present.  I  wouldn't 
like  the  feel  of  them  after  they'd  been  on  to  you." 

"  That's  all  right ! "  was  the  cool  answer.  "  I  expect 
the  game's  up,  and  I'm  quite  ready  to  buy  them  of  you. 
By  the  way,  partner,  you  helped  your  boss  to  pull  me  out, 
didn't  you?  As  I  said  before,  I'm  not  great  on  swim- 
ming." 

"  I'm  almost  sorry  I  had  to,"  said  Mattawa  Tom,  who 
was  a  loyal  partisan.  "  But  don't  call  me  '  partner,'  or 
there'll  be  trouble." 

The  stranger  laughed,  as,  after  a  glass  of  hot  liquor,  he 
arrayed  himself  beside  the  banked-up  stove,  and  presently 
marched  under  escort  towards  Thurston's  wood  and  bark 
winter  dwelling.  Mattawa  Tom  followed  close  behind 
him  with  a  big  ax  on  his  shoulder. 

"  I  might  be  a  panther  you'd  corralled.  How  do  you 
know  I  haven't  a  pistol  in  my  pocket,  if  it  was  any  use 
turning  ugly?"  the  prisoner  inquired. 

"  I'm  quite  certain  about  you,  because  your  pistol  is 
in  my  pocket,"  was  the  dry  answer,  and  Tom  chuckled. 
"You  weren't  quite  smart  enough  when  you  slipped  off 
your  jacket." 

From  the  door  of  his  shanty,  Thurston  called  them,  and 
Mattawa,  thrusting  his  prisoner  in,  proceeded  to  mount 
guard  close  outside  until  Thurston  reappeared  to  ask 
angrily : 

"  What  are  you  doing  there  ?  " 

"  I  figured  you  might  want  me,  sir.     That  man's  not 


148   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

to  be  trusted/'  answered  Tom,  and  Thurston  laughed  as 
he  said : 

"  Go  back,  see  that  the  maintenance  man  has  made  a 
good  job  of  the  wedges,  and  if  any  of  the  boys  should 
ask  questions  you'll  tell  them — nothing,"  Geoffrey  com- 
manded. "  You  don't  suppose  I've  suddenly  grown  help- 
less, do  you  ?  " 

Mattawa  Tom  withdrew  with  much  reluctance,  and  it 
was  long  before  any  person  knew  exactly  what  Geoffrey 
and  the  stranger  said  to  each  other,  though  Gillow  in- 
formed his  comrade  that  the  captured  man  said  to  him, 
by  way  of  explanation  before  sleeping: 

"Your  boss  is  considerably  too  smart  a  man  for  me  to 
bluff,  and  I've  kind  of  decided  to  help  him.  Shouldn't 
wonder  if  he  didn't  beat  my  last  one,  who  would  have 
seen  me  roasted  before  he'd  have  gone  into  a  river  for  me. 
I'm  not  fond  of  being  left  out  in  the  rain  with  the  losing 
side,  either,  see?  It's  not  my  tip  to  talk  too  much,  and 
I  guess  that's  about  good  enough  for  you." 

"  You're  going  to  help  him ! "  commented  Gillow, 
ironically.  "  All  things  considered,  that's  very  kind  of 
you." 

Next  morning  Thurston,  who  summoned  the  cook  and 
foreman  before  him,  said :  "  I  want  you  two  to  keep 
what  happened  last  night  a  close  secret,  and  while  I  can- 
not tell  you  much,  I  may  say  that  the  man  who  will  re- 
main in  camp  was,  as  you  have  no  doubt  guessed,  only  the 
cat's  paw  of  several  speculators,  whom  it  wouldn't  suit  to 
see  our  employer,  Savine,  successful." 

"But  mightn't  he  try  the  same  game  again?"  asked 
Mattawa,  and  Thurston  answered : 

"  He  might,  but  I  hardly  think  he  will.  I  intend  to 
keep  him  here  under  my  own  eyes  until  I  want  him. 
There's  no  particular  reason  why  you  shouldn't  see  that 
he  earns  his  wages,  Tom.  Gillow,  it's  perhaps  not  wholly 
unfortunate  you  dropped  him  into  the  river." 


THE    WORK    OF   AN   ENEMY  149 

"  Kind  of  trump  ace  up  your  sleeve ! "  suggested  Mat- 
tawa,  and  his  master  answered  with  a  smile : 

"  Not  exactly.  The  other  side  is  quite  smart  enough 
to  know  who  holds  the  aces;  but  I  fancy  the  complete  dis- 
appearance of  this  few-spot  card  will  puzzle  them.  Now, 
forget  all  about  it.  I  wouldn't  have  said  so  much,  but 
that  I  know  I  can  trust  you  two ! " 


CHAPTER    XV 

A    GEEAT    UNDERTAKING 

Except  for  the  wail  of  a  wet  breeze  from  the  Pacific  and 
the  moaning  of  the  pines  outside,  there  was  unusual  quiet- 
ness in  the  wood-built  villa  looking  down  upon  the  valley 
of  the  Hundred  Springs  on  the  night  that  the  American 
specialist  came  up  to  consult  with  Savine's  doctor  from 
Vancouver.  The  master  of  High  Maples  had  been  brought 
home  unconscious,  some  days  earlier,  and  had  lain  for 
hours  apparently  on  the  point  of  death.  During  this 
time  it  was  Thurston  who  took  control  of  the  panic- 
stricken  household.  It  was  he  who  telegraphed  Thomas 
Savine  to  bring  his  wife.  He  had  sent  for  the  famous 
American  physician  and  had  allayed  Helen's  fears.  When 
the  girl's  aunt  arrived  he  had  prevented  that  lady  from 
undertaking  the  cure  of  the  patient  by  her  own  prescrip- 
tion. Geoffrey's  temper  was  never  very  patient,  but  he 
held  it  well  in  hand  for  Helen's  sake. 

On  the  night  in  question,  Geoffrey  anxiously  awaited 

the    physician's    verdict.     He    was    in    the    library    with 

Thomas   Savine,   and  had   made   spasmodic   attempts   to 

divert  the  attention  of  the  kindly,  gray-haired  gentleman 

from  the  illness  of  his  brother.     At  last,  when  the  ten- 

n  grew  almost  unbearable,  Thomas  Savine  said : 

"  They  cannot  be  much   longer,  and  we'll  hear  their 

rdict  soon.     I'm  trying  to  hope  for  the  best,  Thurston, 

knowing  it  can't  be  good  all  the  time.     This  has  been  a 

blow  to  me.     You  see  we  were  a  one-man  family,  and  it 

ul i us  who  started  off  all  the  rest  of  us.     He  must 

have  been  mighty  sick  of  us  several  times  after  he  married, 

but  he  never  showed  a  sign  of  impatience.     What  a  man 

he  was — tireless,  indefatigable,  nothing  too  big  for  him — 

1.50 


A    GREAT   UNDERTAKING  151 

until  his  wife  died.  Then  all  the  grit  seemed  to  melt 
right  out  of  him,  and  during  the  last  few  years  I  knew, 
what  mighty  few  people  besides  yourself  know  now,  that 
Julius  was  just  a  shadow  of  what  he  had  been.  He  held 
all  the  wires  in  his  own  hands  too  long,  and,  as  he  hadn't 
an  understudy  with  the  grit  to  act  by  himself,  I  was  glad 
when  he  took  hold  of  you." 

u  He  has  always  been  a  generous  and  considerate  em- 
ployer," interposed  Geoffrey.  "  But  I  had  better  leave 
you.     I  hear  the  doctors  coming." 

Savine  laid  a  detaining  grasp  upon  his  arm  with  the 
words :  "  I  want  you  right  here.  It's  your  concern  as 
well  as  mine." 

The  two  doctors  entered,  and  the  one  from  Vancouver 
said: 

"I  will  let  my  colleague  express  his  opinion,  and  may 
say  that  our  patient  admitted  to  him  a  complicating  weak- 
ness which  I  had  suspected.  I  wish  we  had  better  news 
to  give  you,  but  while  it  was  your  brother's  wish  that  Mr. 
Thurston  should  know,  I  should  almost  prefer  first  to 
communicate  with  his  own  family." 

"  You  can  both  speak  right  out ;  only  be  quick  about 
it,"  Thomas  Savine  told  him. 

"  It  is  tolerably  simple,  and  while  I  sympathize  with 
you,  I  must  not  disguise  the  truth,"  said  the  keen-eyed, 
lean-faced  American.  "  Though  Mr.  Savine  will  partly 
recover  from  this  attack,  his  career  as  an  active  man  is 
closed.  His  heart  may  hold  out  a  few  years  longer,  if 
you  follow  my  instructions,  or  it  may  at  any  time  fail 
him — if  he  worries  over  anything,  it  certainly  will.  In 
any  case,  he  will  never  be  strong  again.  Mental  powers 
and  physical  vigor  have  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  level 
by  over-work  and  excessive,  if  intermittent,  indulgence  in 
what  I  may  call  a  very  devilish  drug — a  particular  Chinese 
preparation  of  opium,  not  generally  known  even  on  this 
opium-consuming  coast.  Under  its  influence  he  may  still 
be  capable  of  spasmodic  fits  of  energy,  but  while  each 


152   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

dose  will  assist  towards  his  dissolution,  I  dare  not — at 
this  stage — recommend  complete  deprivation.  I  have  ar- 
ranged with  your  own  adviser  as  to  the  best  treatment 
known  to  modern  science,  but  fear  it  cannot  prove  very 
efficacious.  That's  about  all  I  can  tell  you  in  general 
terms,  gentlemen." 

"  It  is  worse  than  I  feared,"  said  Thomas  Savine,  lean- 
ing forward  in  his  chair,  with  his  elbows  on  the  table, 
and  his  chin  in  his  hands.  Before  the  two  doctors  with- 
drew, the  Canadian  said: 

"  He  is  anxious  to  see  Mr.  Thurston,  and  in  an  hour 
or  so  it  could  do  no  harm.  I  will  rejoin  you  shortly,  Mr. 
Savine." 

The  door  closed  behind  them,  and  Thomas  Savine  looked 
straight  at  Thurston  as  he  observed :  "  I  know  little  about 
his  business,  but  shall  have  to  look  into  it  for  his 
daughter's  sake.     You  will  help  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Geoffrey.  "  It  seems  out  of  place  now, 
but  I  cannot  honestly  co-operate  with  you  without  men- 
tioning a  conditional  promise  your  brother  made  to  me. 
Perhaps  you  can  guess  it." 

"  I  can,"  said  Savine,  stretching  out  his  hand.  "  I 
won't  say  that  1  hadn't  thought  Helen  might  have  chosen 
among  the  highest  in  the  Dominion  just  because  it 
wouldn't  be  true,  but  you'll  have  my  good  wishes  if  you 
will  see  my  poor  brother  through  his  immediate  difficulties 
at  least.  You  had  Mrs.  Savine's  approval  long  ago." 
After  a  pause,  he  added,  "  There  is  one  part  of  Julius's 
trouble  Helen  must  never  know." 

The  two  men's  fingers  met  in  a  grip  that  was  more 
eloquent  than  many  protestations,  and  Geoffrey  went  out 
into  the  moaning  wind  and,  bareheaded,  paced  to  and  fro 
until  lie  was  summoned  to  the  sick  man's  room.  The  few 
days  that  had  passed  since  he  had  seen  his  employer  had 
set  their  mark  upon  Savine.  The  sick  man  lay  in  his 
plainly-furnished  room.  With  bloodless  lips,  drawn  face, 
and  curiously-glazed  eyes,  he  was  strangely  different  from 


A    GREAT   UNDERTAKING  153 

his  usual  self,  but  he  looked  up  with  an  attempt  at  his 
characteristic  smile  as  Geoffrey  approached.  At  a 
signal,  the  nurse  slipped  away. 

"  I  asked  them  to  tell  you,  so  you  might  know  the  kind 
of  man  I  am,"  said  Savine.  "You  have  got  to  exercise 
that  partnership  option  one  way  or  another  right  now. 
It  is  not  too  late  to  back  out,  and  I  wouldn't  blame 
you." 

"I  should  blame  myself  to  my  last  day  if  I  did,  sir," 
answered  Geoffrey,  trying  to  hide  the  shock  he  felt,  and 
Savine  beckoned  him  nearer. 

"It's  a  big  thing  you  are  going  into,  but  you'll  do  it 
with  both  eyes  wide  open,"  he  declared.  "For  the  past 
few  years  Julius  Savine  has  been  a  shadow,  and  an  empty 
name,  and  his  affairs  are  mixed  considerably.  Eeckless 
contracts  taken  with  a  muddled  brain  and  speculation  to 
make  up  the  losses,  have,  between  them,  resulted  in  chaos. 
I'm  too  sick  to  value  what  I  own,  and  no  accountant  can. 
I  ran  things  myself  too  long,  and  no  one  was  fit  to  take 
hold  when  I  slackened  my  grip.  But  there's  still  the 
business,  and  there's  still  the  name,  and  the  one  man  in 
this  province  I  can  trust  them  to  is  you.  I  should  have 
let  go  before,  but  I  was  greedy — greedy  for  my  daughter's 
sake." 

"It  is  comprehensible."  Geoffrey  spoke  with  convic- 
tion. "  So  far  as  I  can  serve  you,  you  can  command 
me." 

"  I  know  it,"  was  the  answer.  "  What's  more,  I  feel  it 
in  me  that  you  will  not  lose  by  it.  Lord,  how  hard  it  is, 
but  there's  no  use  whining  when  brought  up  sharp  by 
one's  own  folly.  But  see  here,  Geoffrey  Thurston,  if 
Helen  will  take  you  willingly  I  can  trust  her  to  you;  but 
if,  when  I  go  under,  she  looks  beyond  you,  and  you  at- 
tempt to  trade  upon  her  gratitude  or  her  aunt's  favor,  my 
curse  will  follow  you.  Besides,  if  I  know  Helen  Savine, 
she  will  be  able  to  repay  you  full  measure  should  you  win 
her  so." 


154>      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

For  just  a  moment  the  old  flame  of  quick  anger  burned 
in  Geoffrey's  eyes.     Then  he  responded. 

"  I  regret  you  even  imagine  I  could  take  an  dishonor- 
able advantage  of  your  daughter.  God  forbid  that  I 
should  ever  bring  sorrow  upon  Miss  Savine.  All  I  ask 
is  a  fair  field  and  the  right  to  help  her  according  to  her 
need." 

"Forgive  me!"  returned  Savine.  "Of  late  I  have 
grown  scared  about  her  future.  I  believe  you,  Thurston; 
I  can't  say  more.  I  felt  the  more  sure  of  you  when  you 
told  me  straight  out  about  what  was  born  in  you.  Lord, 
how  I  envied  you !  The  man  who  can  stand  those  devils 
off  can  do  most  anything.  It  was  when  my  wife  died 
they  got  their  claws  on  me.  I  was  trying  to  forget  my 
troubles  by  doing  three  men's  work,  but  you  can't  fool 
with  nature,  and  I'd  done  it  too  long  already.  Anyway, 
when  I  couldn't  eat  or  sleep,  they  had  their  opportunity. 
At  first  they  made  my  brain  work  quicker,  but  soon  after 
I  fell  in  with  you  I  knew  that,  unless  he  had  a  good  man 
beside  him,  Savine's  game  was  over.  But  I  wouldn't  be 
beaten.  I  was  holding  on  for  Helen's  sake  to  leave  her 
a  fortune  and  a  name. 

"  All  this  is  getting  monotonous  to  you  but  let  me 
finish  when  I  can."  Savine  waited  a  moment  to  regain 
his  breath.  "  I  cheated  the  nurse  and  doctor  to-day,  and 
I'll  be  very  like  a  dead  man  to-morrow.  You  must  go 
down  to  my  offices  and  overhaul  everything;  then  come 
right  back  and  we'll  see  if  we  can  make  a  deal.  I'll  have 
my  proposition  fixed  up  straight  and  square,  but  this  is 
the  gist  of  it.  While  doing  your  best  for  your  own  ad- 
vantage, hold  Julius  Savine's  name  clean  before  the 
world,  win  the  most  possible  for  Helen  out  of  the  wreck, 
and  rush  through  the  reclamation  scheme — which  is  the 
key  to  all." 

"  As  you  said — it's  a  big  undertaking,  but  I'll  do  my 
best,"  began  Geoffrey,  but  Savine  checked  him. 

"  Go  down  and  see  what  you  make  of  things.     Maybe 


A    GREAT   UNDERTAKING  155 

the  sight  of  them  will  choke  you  off.  I'll  take  no  other 
answer.     Send  Tom  to  me,"  he  commanded. 

It  was  the  next  day  when  Geoffrey  had  an  interview 
with  Helen,  who  sent  for  him.  She  was  standing  beside 
a  window  when  he  came  in.  She  looked  tall  in  a  long 
somber-tinted  dress  which  emphasized  the  whiteness  of 
her  full  round  throat  and  the  pallor  of  her  face.  The 
faint,  olive  coloring  of  her  skin  had  faded;  there  were 
shadows  about  her  eyes.  At  the  first  glance  Geoffrey's 
heart  went  out  towards  her.  It  was  evident  the  verdict 
of  the  physicians  had  been  a  heavy  shock,  but  he  fancied 
that  she  was  ready  to  meet  the  inevitable  with  undimin- 
ished courage.  Still,  her  fingers  were  cold  when,  for  a 
moment,  they  touched  his  own. 

"  Sit  down,  Geoffrey.  I  have  a  great  deal  to  say  to 
jrou,  and  don't  know  how  to  begin,"  she  said.  "  But  first 
I  am  sincerely  grateful  for  all  you  have  done." 

"  We  will  not  mention  that.  Neither,  I  hope,  need  I 
say  that  Miss  Savine  of  all  people  could  never  be  indebted 
to  me.     You  must  know  it  already." 

Helen  thanked  him  with  her  eyes  as  she  sank  into  the 
chair  he  wheeled  out  so  that  the  light  left  her  face  in 
shadow.  Geoffrey  stood  near  the  window  framing  and  he 
did  not  look  directly  towards  her.  Helen  appreciated  the 
consideration  which  prompted  the  action  and  the  respect 
implied  by  his  attitude. 

"  I  am  going  to  ask  a  great  deal  of  you,  and  remind  you 
of  a  promise  you  once  made."  There  was  a  little  tremor 
in  her  voice.  "  You  will  not  think  it  ungracious  if  I 
say  there  is  no  one  else  who  can  do  what  seems  so  nec- 
essary, and  ask  you  if  you  do  not  consider  that  you  owe 
something  to  my  father.  It  is  hard  for  me,  not  because 
I  doubt  you,  but  because " 

Geoffrey  checked  her  with  a  half-raised  hand.  "  Please 
don't,  Miss  Savine — I  can  understand.  You  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  receive,  when,  as  yet,  you  have,  you  think,  but  little 
to  give.     Would  that  make  any  difference?     The  little — 


156   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

just  to  know  that  I  had  helped  you — would  be  so  much  to 


me." 


Again  Helen  was  grateful.  The  look  of  anxiety  and 
distress  returned  as  she  went  on. 

"  I  dare  spare  no  effort  for  my  father's  sake.  He  has 
always  been  kindness  itself  to  me,  and  it  is  only  now  that 
I  know  how  much  I  love  him.  Hitherto  I  have  taken 
life  too  easily,  forgetting  that  sorrow  and  tragedy  could 
overtake  me.  I  have  heard  the  physician's  verdict,  and 
know  my  father  cannot  be  spared  very  long  to  me.  I  also 
know  how  his  mind  is  set  upon  the  completion  of  his  last 
great  scheme.  That  is  why,  and  because  of  your  protaise, 
I  have  dared  ask  help  of — you." 

"  Will  it  make  it  easier  if  I  say  that,  quite  apart  from 
his  daughter's  wishes,  I  am  bound  in  honor  to  protect  the 
interests  of  Julius  Savine  so  far  as  I  can  ? "  interposed 
Geoffrey.  "  Your  father  found  me  much  as  you  did,  a 
struggling  adventurer,  and  with  unusual  kindness  helped 
me  on  the  way  to  prosperity.  All  I  have  I  owe  to  him, 
and  perhaps,  the  more  so  because  we  have  cunning  enemies, 
my  own  mind  is  bent  on  the  completion  of  the  scheme.  I 
believe  that  we  shall  triumph,  Miss  Savine,  and  I  use  the 
word  advisedly,  still  expecting  much  from  your  father's 
skill." 

Helen  gravely  shook  her  head.  "  I  recognize  your  kind 
intentions,  but  you  must  expect  nothing.  It  is  a  hard 
thing  for  me  to  say,  but  the  truth  is  always  best,  and 
again  it  is  no  small  favor  I  ask  from  you, — to  do  the  work 
for  the  credit  of  another's  name — taking  his  task  upon 
your  shoulders,  to  make  a  broken  man's  last  days  easier. 
I  want  you  to  sign  the  new  partnership  agreement,  and 
am  glad  you  recognize  that  my  father  was  a  good  friend 
to  you." 

The  girl's  courage  nearly  deserter!  her,  for  Helen  was 
young  still,  and  had  been  severely  tried.  While  Geoffrey, 
who  felt  that  he  would  give  his  life  for  the  right  to  com- 
fort her,  could  only  discreetly  turn  his  face  away. 


A    GREAT   UNDERTAKING  157 

"  I  will  do  it  all,  Miss  Savine,"  he  said  gravely.  "  I 
had  already  determined  on  as  much,  but  you  must  try  to 
believe  that  the  future  is  not  so  hopeless  as  it  looks.  You 
will  consider  that  I  have  given  you  a  solemn  pledge." 

"  Then  I  can  only  say  God  speed  you,  for  my  thanks 
would  be  inadequate,"  Helen's  voice  trembled  as  she  spoke. 
"  But  I  must  also  ask  your  forgiveness  for  my  presump- 
tion in  judging  you  that  day.  I  now  know  how  far  I  was 
mistaken." 

Geoffrey  knew  to  what  she  referred.  The  day  had  been 
a  memorable  one  for  him,  and,  with  pulses  throbbing,  he 
moved  forward  a  pace,  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  speaker's* 
face.  For  a  moment,  forgetting  everything,  his  resolu- 
tions were  flung  to  the  winds,  and  he  trembled  with  pas- 
sion and  hope.  Then  he  remembered  his  promise  to  the 
sick  man,  and  Helen's  own  warning,  and  recovered  a 
partial  mastery  of  himself.  It  was  a  mere  sense  of  justice 
which  prompted  the  girl's  words,  his  reason  warned  him, 
but  he  felt,  instinctively,  that  they  implied  more  than  this, 
though  he  did  not  know  how  much.  He  stood  irresolute 
until  Helen  looked  up,  and,  if  it  had  ever  existed,  the 
time  for  speech  was  past. 

"  I  fear  I  have  kept  you  too  long,  but  there  is  still  a 
question  I  must  ask.  You  have  seen  my  father  in  many 
of  his  moods,  and  there  is  something  in  the  state  of  limp 
apathy  he  occasionally  falls  into  which  puzzles  me.  I 
cannot  help  thinking  there  is  another  danger  of  which  I 
do  not  know.     Can  you  not  enlighten  me?" 

Helen  leaned  forward,  a  strange  fear  stamped  upon  her 
face.  Fresh  from  the  previous  struggle,  Geoffrey,  whose 
heart  yearned  to  comfort  her,  felt  his  powers  of  resistance 
strained  to  the  utmost.  Still,  it  was  a  question  that  he 
could  not  answer.  Remembering  Savine's  injunction — to 
hold  her  father's  name  clean — he  said  quickly:  "There 
is  nothing  I  can  tell  you.  You  must  remember  only  that 
the  physician  admitted   a  cheering  possibility.'' 

"I  will  try  to  believe  in  it."     The  trouble  deepened  in. 


158   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

Helen's  face,  while  her  voice  expressed  bitter  disappoint- 
ment. "  You  have  been  very  kind  and  I  must  not  tax  you 
too  heavily." 

Geoffrey  turned  away,  distressed,  for  her  and  inwardly 
anathematized  his  evil  fortune  in  being  asked  that  partic- 
ular question.  He  had,  he  felt,  faltered  when  almost 
within  sight  of  victory,  neglecting  to  press  home  an  ad- 
vantage which  might  have  won  success.  "  It  is,  perhaps, 
the  first  time  I  have  willfully  thrown  away  my  chances — 
the  man  who  wins  is  the  one  who  sees  nothing  but  the 
prize,"  he  told  himself.  "  But  I  could  not  have  taken  ad- 
vantage of  her  anxiety  for  her  father  and  gratitude  to 
me,  while,  if  I  had,  and  won,  there  would  be  always  be- 
tween us  the  knowledge  that  I  had  not  played  the  game 
fairly." 

Thomas  Savine  came  into  the  room.  "I  was  looking 
for  you,  and  want  to  know  when  you'll  go  down  to  Van- 
couver with  me  to  puzzle  through  everything  before  finally 
deciding  just  what  you're  going  to  do,"  he  said.  They 
talked  a  few  moments.  After  the  older  man  left  him, 
Geoffrey  found  himself  confronted  by  Mrs.  Savine. 

"  I  have  been  worried  about  vou  "  she  asserted. 
"  You're  carrying  too  heavy  a  load,  and  it's  wearing  you 
thin.  You  look  a  very  sick  man  to-day,  and  ought  to  re- 
member that  the  main  way  to  preserve  one's  health  is  to 
take  life  easily." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  of  it,  madam,"  Thurston  fidgeted, 
fearing  what  might  follow ;  "  but,  unfortunately,  one  can- 
not always  do  so." 

Mrs.  Savine  held  out  a  little  phial  as  she  explained :  "  A 
simple  restorative  is  the  next  best  thing,  and  you  will  find 
yourself  braced  in  mind  and  body  by  a  few  doses  of  this. 
It  is  what  I  desired  to  fix  up  my  poor  brother-in-law  with 
when  you  prevented  me." 

"  Then  the  least  I  can  do  is  to  take  it  myself,"  said 
Geoffrey,  smiling  to  hide  his  uneasiness.  "  I  presume  you 
do  not  wish  me  to  swallow  it  immediately?" 


A    GREAT   UNDERTAKING  159 

Mrs.  Savine  beamed  upon  him.  "  You  might  hold  out 
an  hour  or  two  longer,  but  delays  are  dangerous,"  she 
warned  him.  "Kindness!  Well,  there's  a  tolerable  rea- 
son why  we  should  be  good  to  you,  and,  for  I  guess  you're 
not  a  clever  man  all  round,  Geoffrey  Thurston,  you  have 
piled  up  a  considerable  obligation  in  your  favor  in  one 
direction." 

"  May  I  ask  you  to  speak  more  plainly,  Mrs.  Savine  ?  " 
Geoffrey  requested  and  she  answered : 

"  You  may,  but  I  can't  do  it.  Still,  what  you  did,  be- 
cause you  thought  it  the  fair  thing,  won't  be  lost  to  you. 
Now,  don't  ask  any  more  fool  questions,  but  go  right 
away,  take  ten  drops  of  the  elixir,  and  don't  worry.  It 
will  all  come  right  some  day." 

The  speaker's  meaning  was  discernible,  and  Geoffrey, 
having  a  higher  opinion  than  many  people  of  Mrs.  Savine's 
sagacity,  went  out  into  the  sunlight,  satisfied.  He  held 
up  the  phial  and  was  about  to  hurl  it  among  the  firs,  but, 
either  grateful  for  the  donor's  words,  or  softened  by  what 
he  had  heard  and  seen,  he  actually  drank  a  little  of  it  in- 
stead. Then  came  a  revulsion  from  the  strain  of  the  last 
few  days,  and  he  burst  into  a  laugh. 

"  It  would  have  been  mean,  and  I  dare  say  I  haven't 
absorbed  sufficient  of  the  stuff  to  quite  poison  me,"  he 
said. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

MILLICENT   TURN'S    TRAITRESS 

It  was  with  a  heavy  sense  of  responsibility  that  Geoffrey 
returned  from  a  visit  to  Savine's  offices  in  Vancouver,  and 
yet  there  was  satisfaction  mingled  with  his  anxiety. 
Thomas  Savine,  who  knew  little  of  engineering,  was  no 
fool  at  finance,  and  the  week  they  spent  together  made  the 
situation  comparatively  plain.  It  was  fraught  with  peril 
and  would  have  daunted  many  a  man,  but  the  very  uncer- 
tainty and  prospect  of  a  struggle  which  would  tax  every 
energy  appealed  to  Thurston.  He  felt  also  that  here  was 
an  opportunity  of  proving  his  devotion  to  Helen  in  the 
way  he  could  do  it  best. 

"  I'm  uncommonly  thankful  we  didn't  send  for  an  ac- 
countant; the  fewer  folks  who  handle  those  books  the 
better,"  declared  Thomas  Savine.  "  I  was  prepared  for  a 
surprise,  Thurston,  but  never  expected  this.  I  suppose 
things  can  be  straightened  out,  but  when  I'd  fixed  up  that 
balance,  it  just  took  my  breath  away.  More  than  half  the 
assets  are  unmarketable  stock  and  ventures  no  man  could 
value,  while  whether  they  will  ever  realize  anything  good- 
ness only  knows.  It's  mighty  certain  Julius  doesn't  know 
himself  what  he  has  been  doing  the  last  two  years.  I  can 
let  my  partners  run  our  business  down  in  Oregon  and  stay 
right  here  for  a  time,  counting  on  you  to  do  the  outside 
work,  if  what  you  have  seen  hasn't  ehoked  you  off.  You 
haven't  signed  the  agreement  yet.  How  does  the  whole 
thing  strike  you?  " 

"  As  chaos  that  can  and  must  be  reduced  to  order," 
answered  Geoffrey  with  a  reckless  laugh.  "I  intend  to 
sign  the  agreement,  and,  foresecim:'  that  you  may  have 
trouble  about  the  money  which  I  propose  to  spend  freely, 
I  am  adding  all  my  private  savings  to  the  working  capital. 

160 


MILLICENT    TURNS    TRAITRESS       161 

It  is,  therefore,  neck  or  nothing  with  me  now,  as  I  fear 
it  is  with  the  rest  of  you,  and,  in  my  opinion,  we  should 
let  everything  but  the  reclamation  scheme  go.  It  will 
either  ruin  us  or  pay  us  five-fold  if  we  can  put  it  through." 

"  Just  so  !  "  and  Savine  nodded.  "  I  leave  that  end  to 
you,  but  I've  got  to  explain  things  to  Helen,  and  I  don't 
like  the  thought  of  it.  My  niece  has  talents.  As  her  fu- 
ture lies  at  stake,  she  has  a  right  to  know,  but  it  will  be 
another  shock  to  her.  Poor  Julius  brought  her  up  in 
luxury,  and  I  expect  has  been  far  too  mixed  of  late  to 
know  that  he  was  tottering  towards  the  verge  of  bank- 
ruptcy. A  smart  outside  accountant  would  have  soon 
scented  trouble,  but  I  don't  quite  blame  my  brother's 
cashier,  who  is  a  clerk  and  nothing  more,  for  taking 
everything  at  it's  book  value." 

That  afternoon  Helen  sat  with  the  two  men  in  the 
library  at  High  Maples.  A  roll  of  papers  was  on  the 
table  before  her.  When  Thomas  Savine  had  made  the 
condition  of  things  as  plain  as  possible,  she  leaned  back 
in  her  chair  with  crossed  hands  for  a  time. 

"  I  thank  you  for  telling  me  so  much,  and  I  can  grasp 
the  main  issues,"  she  said  at  length.  "If  my  opinion  is 
of  value  I  would  say  I  agree  with  you  that  the  bold  course 
is  best.  But  you  will  need  much  money,  and  as  it  is  evi- 
dent money  will  not  be  plentiful,  so  I  must  do  my  part  in 
helping  you.  Because  this  establishment  and  our  mode  of 
life  here  is  expensive,  while  it  will  please  my  father  to  be 
near  the  scene  of  operations,  we  will  let  High  Maples  and 
retire  to  a  mountain  ranch.  I  fear  we  have  maintained  a 
style  circumstances  hardly  justified  too  long." 

"  It's  a  sensible  plan  all  through.     I  must  tell  you  Mr. 

Thurston  has "  began   Savine,  and   ceased   abruptly, 

when  Geoffrey,  who  frowned  at  him,  broke  in: 

"We  have  troubled  Miss  Savine  with  sufficient  details, 
and  I  fancy  the  arrangement  suggested  would  help  to 
keep  her  father  tranquil,  especially  as  our  progress  will  be 
slow.    Spring  is  near,  and,  in  spite  of  our  efforts,  we  shall 


162      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

not  be  able  to  deepen  the  pass  in  the  canon  before  the 
waters  rise.  That  means  we  can  do  nothing  there  until 
next  winter,  and  must  continue  the  dyking  all  summer. 
It  is  very  brave  of  you.  Miss  Savine." 

Helen  smiled  upon  him  as  she  answered : 
"  The  compliment  is  doubtful.  Did  you  suppose  I 
could  do  nothing?  But  we  must  march  out  with  banners 
flying,  or,  more  prosaically,  paragraphs  in  the  papers, 
stating  that  Julius  Savine  will  settle  near  the  scene  of 
his  most  important  operations.  While  you  are  here  you 
should  show  yourself  in  public  as  much  as  possible,  Mr. 
Thurston.  Whenever  I  can  help  you,  you  must  tell  me, 
and  I  shall  demand  a  strict  account  of  your  stewardship 
from  both  of  you." 

The  two  men  went  away  satisfied.  Savine  said : 
"  I  guess  some  folks  are  mighty  stupid  when  they  con- 
sider that  only  the  ugly  women  are  clever.  There's  my 
niece — well,  nobody  could  call  her  plain,  and  you  can  see 
how  she's  taking  hold  instead  of  weakening.  Some 
women  never  show  the  grit  that's  in  them  until  they're 
fighting  for  their  children;  but  you  can  look  out  for 
trouble,  Thurston,  if  you  fool  away  any  chances,  while 
Helen  Savine's  behind  you  fighting  for  her  father." 

A  few  days  later  Henry  Leslie,  confidential  secretary 
to  the  Industrial  Enterprise  Company,  sat,  with  a  frown 
upon  his  puffy  face,  in  his  handsome  office.  He  wore  a 
silk-bound  frock  coat,  a  garment  not  then  common  in 
Vancouver,  and  a  floral  spray  from  Mexico  in  his  button- 
hole; but  he  was  evidently  far  from  happy,  and  glanced 
with  ill-concealed  dismay  at  the  irate  specimen  of  muscu- 
lar manhood  standing  before  him.  The  man,  who  was  a 
sturdy  British  agriculturalist,  had  forced  his  way  in, 
defying  the  clerks  specially  instructed  to  intercept  him. 
Leslie  had  first  set  up  in  business  as  a  land  agent,  a  call- 
ing which  affords  a  promising  field  for  talents  of  his 
particular  description,  and  having  taken  the  new  arrival's 
money,  had,  by  a  little  manipulation  of  the  survey  lines, 


MILLICENT    TURNS    TRAITRESS       163 

transferred  to  him  mostly  barren  rock  and  giant  trees  in- 
stead of  land  for  hop  culture.  It  was  a  game  which  had 
been  often  played  before,  but  the  particular  rancher  was 
a  determined  man  and  had  announced  his  firm  intention 
of  obtaining  his  money  back  or  wreaking  summary  ven- 
geance on  his  betrayer. 

"  Danged  if  thee  hadn't  more  hiding  holes  than  a 
rotten,  but  I've  hunted  thee  from  one  to  one,  and  now 
I've  found  thee  I  want  my  brass,"  shouted  the  brawny, 
loud-voiced  Briton.    Leslie  answered  truthfully : 

"  I  tell  you  I  haven't  got  it,  even  if  you  had  any  claim 
on  me,  and  it's  not  my  fault  you're  disappointed,  if  you 
foolishly  bought  land  before  you  could  understand  a 
Canadian  survey  plan." 

"  Then  thou'lt  better  get  it,"  was  the  uncompromising 
answer.  "  Understand  a  plan !  I've  stuck  to  the  marked 
one  I  got  from  thee,  and  there's  lawyers  in  this  country 
as  can.     It  was  good  soil  and  maples  I  went  up  to  see, 

and  how  the  can  anybody  raise  crops  off  the  big 

stones  thou  sold  me?  I'm  going  to  have  my  rights,  and, 
meantime,  I'm  trapesing  round  all  the  bars  in  this  city 
talking  about  thee.  There's  a  good  many  already  as  be- 
lieve me." 

"  Then  you  had  better  look  out.  Confound  you !  " 
threatened  Leslie,  taking  a  bold  course  in  desperation. 
"  There's  a  law  which  can  stop  that  game  in  this  country, 
and  I'll  set  it  in  motion.  Anyway,  I  can't  have  you  mak- 
ing this  noise  in  my  private  office.  Go  away  before  I  call 
my  clerks  to  throw  you  out." 

The  effort  at  intimidation  was  a  distinct  failure,  for 
the  aggrieved  agriculturalist,  who  was  not  quite  sober, 
laughed  uproariously  as  he  seized  a  heavy  ruler.  "  That's 
a  good  van,"  he  roared.  "Thou  darsen't  for  thy  life  go 
near  a  court  with  me,  and  the  first  clerk  who  tries  to  put 
me  out,  danged  if  I  don't  pound  half  the  life  out  of  him 
and  thee.  I'm  stayin'  here  comf  able  until  I  get  my 
money." 


164   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

He  pulled  out  a  filthy  pipe,  and  filled  it  with  what, 
when  he  struck  a  match,  turned  out  to  be  particularly 
vile  tobacco,  and  Leslie,  who  fumed  in  his  chair,  said 
presently : 

"  You  are  only  wasting  your  time  and  mine — and  for 
heaven's  sake  take  a  cigar  and  fling  that  pipe  away.  I 
haven't  got  the  money  by  me,  and  it's  the  former  owner's 
business,  not  mine,  but  if  you'll  call  round,  say  the  day 
after  to-morrow,  I'll  see  what  we  can  do." 

He  named  the  day,  knowing  that  he  would  be  absent 
then,  and  the  stranger,  heaving  his  heavy  limbs  out  of  an 
easy  chair,  helped  himself  to  a  handful  of  choice  cigars 
before  he  prepared  to  depart,  saying  dubiously: 

"I'll  be  back  on  Wednesday  bright  and  early,  bringing 
several  friends  as  will  see  fair  play  with  me.  One  of 
them  will  be  a  lawyer,  and  if  he's  no  good  either,  look  out, 
mister,  for  I'll  find  another  way  of  settling  thee !  " 

There  are  in  Canada,  as  well  as  other  British  Colonies, 
capitalists,  dealing  in  lands  and  financing  mines,  whose 
efforts  make  for  the  progress  of  civilization  and  the  good 
of  the  community.  There  are  also  others,  described  by 
their  victims  as  a  curse  to  any  country.  Representatives 
of  both  descriptions  were  interested  in  the  Industrial  En- 
terprise. Therefore,  the  unfortunate  secretary  groaned 
when  one  of  the  latter  class,  who  passed  his  visitor  in  the 
doorway,  came  in  smiling  in  a  curious  manner.  Leslie, 
who  hoped  he  had  not  heard  much,  was  rudely  undeceived. 

"  I'm  hardly  surprised  at  certain  words  I  heard  in  the 
corridor,"  he  commenced.  "Your  English  friend  was 
telling  an  interesting  tale  about  you  to  all  the  loungers  in 
the  Eideau  bar  to-day.  They  seemed  to  believe  him — he 
told  it  very  creditably.  When  are  you  going  to  stop  it, 
Leslie?"  ' 

•■  When  I  can  pay  him  the  equivalent  of  five  hundred 
sterling  in  blackmail.  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  a  long  time," 
answered  the  secretary,  ruefully. 

"  Then  I  would  advise  you  to  beg,  borrow  or  steal  the 


MILLICENT    TURNS    TRAITRESS       165 

money.  A  man  of  your  abilities  and  practical  experience 
oughtn't  to  find  much  difficulty  in  this  part  of  the  world," 
said  the  newcomer.  "  The  tale  may  have  been  a  fabrica- 
tion, but  it  sounded  true,  and  while  I  don't  set  up  as  a 
reformer  I  am  a  director  of  this  Company,  and  can't  have 
those  rumors  set  going  about  its  secretary.  No,  I  don't 
want  to  hear  your  side  of  the  case — it's  probably  highly 
creditable  to  you — but  I  know  all  about  the  kind  of  busi- 
ness you  were  running,  and  a  good  many  other  folks  in 
this  province  do,  too." 

"  Who,  in  the  name  of  perdition,  would  lend  me  the 
money?  And  it  takes  every  cent  I've  got  to  live  up  to 
my  post.  You  don't  pay  too  liberally,"  sneered  the  un- 
fortunate man,  stung  into  brief  fury  by  the  reference  to 
his  character. 

"  I  will,"  was  the  answer.  "  That  is  to  say,  I'll  fix 
things  up  with  the  plain-spoken  Britisher,  and  take  your 
acknowledgment  in  return  for  his  written  statement  that 
he  has  no  claim  on  you.  I  know  how  to  handle  that  breed 
of  cattle,  and  mayn't  press  you  for  the  money  until  you 
can  pay  it  comfortably." 

"  What  are  you  doing  it  for  ?  "  asked  Leslie,  dubiously. 

"  For  several  reasons ;  I  don't  mind  mentioning  a  few. 
I  want  more  say  in  the  running  of  this  Company,  and  I 
could  get  at  useful  facts  my  colleagues  didn't  know 
through  its  secretary.  I  could  also  give  him  instructions 
without  the  authority  of  a  board  meeting,  see?  And  I 
fancy  I  could  put  a  spoke  in  Savine's  wheel  best  by  doing 
it  quietly  my  own  way.  One  live  man  can  often  get 
through  more  than  a  squabbling  dozen,  and  the  money  is 
really  nothing  much  to  me." 

"  I  had  better  sue  the  Englishman  for  defamation,  and 
prove  my  innocence,  even  if  the  legal  expenses  ruin  me," 
said  Leslie,  and  the  other,  who  laughed  aloud,  checked 
him. 

"  Pshaw !  It  is  really  useless  trying  that  tone  with  me, 
especially  as  I  have  heard  about  another  dispute  of  the 


166   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

kind  you  once  had  at  "Westminster.  You're  between  the 
devil  and  the  deep  sea,  but  if  you  don't  start  kicking  you'll 
get  no  hurt  from  me.  Call  it  a  deal — and,  to  change  the 
subject,  where's  the  man  you  sent  up  to  worry  Thurs- 
ston?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Leslie.  "  I  gave  him  a  round 
sum,  part  of  it  out  of  my  own  pocket,  for  I  couldn't  in 
the  meantime  think  of  a  suitable  entry — all  the  directors 
don't  agree  with  you.  I  know  he  started,  but  he  has 
never  come  back  again." 

"  Then  you  have  got  to  find  him,"  was  the  dry  answer. 
"We'll  have  law-suits  and  land  commissions  before  we're 
through,  and  if  Thurston  has  corralled  or  bought  that  man 
over,  and  plays  him  at  the  right  moment,  it  would  cer- 
tainly cost  you  your  salary." 

"  I  can't  find  him ;  I've  tried,"  asserted  Leslie. 

"  Then  you  had  better  try  again  and  keep  right  on  try- 
ing. Get  at  Thurston  through  his  friends  if  you  can't  do 
it  any  other  way.  Your  wife  is  already  a  figure  in  local 
society." 

That  night  Leslie  leaned  against  the  mantelpiece  in  his 
quarters  talking  to  his  wife.  They  had  just  returned  from 
some  entertainment  and  Millicent,  in  beautiful  evening 
dress,  lay  in  a  lounge  chair  watching  him  keenly. 

"  You  would  not  like  to  be  poor  again,  Millicent  ?  "  he 
said,  fixing  his  glance,  not  upon  her  face  but  on  her 
jeweled  hands,  and  the  woman  smiled  somewhat  bitterly 
as  she  answered: 

"  Poor  again !  That  would  seem  to  infer  that  we  are 
rous  now.    Do  you  know  how  much  I  owe  half  the 

ores  in  this  city,  Harry?" 

"  I  don't  want  to ! "  said  Leslie,  with  a  gesture  of  im- 
patience. "  Your  tastes  were  always  extravagant,  and  I 
mean  the  kind  of  poverty  which  is  always  refused  credit." 

"  My  tastes!"  and  Millicent's  tone  was  indignant.  "I 
suppose  I  am  fond  of  money,  or  the  things  that  it  can 
buy,  and  you  may  remember  you  once  promised  me  plenty. 


MILLICENT    TURNS    TRAITRESS       167 

But  why  can't  you  be  honest  and  own  that  the  display  we 
make  is  part  of  your  programme?  I  have  grown  tired  of 
this  scheming  and  endeavoring  to  thrust  ourselves  upon 
people  who  don't  want  us,  and  if  you  will  be  content  to 
stay  at  home  and  progress  slowly,  Harry,  I  will  gladly  do 
my  share  to  help  you." 

Millicent  Leslie  was  ambitious,  but  the  woman  who  en- 
deavors to  assist  an  impecunious  husband's  schemes  by 
becoming  a  social  influence  usually  suffers,  even  if  suc- 
cessful, in  the  process,  and  Millicent  had  not  been  particu- 
larly successful.  She  was  also  subject  to  morbid  fits  of 
reflection,  accompanied  by  the  framing  of  good  resolu- 
tions, which,  for  the  moment  at  least,  she  meant  to 
keep.  It  is  possible  that  night  might  have  marked  a 
turning-point  in  her  career  had  her  husband  listened  to 
her,  but  before  she  could  continue,  his  thin  lips  curled  as 
he  said : 

"  Isn't  it  a  little  too  late  for  either  of  us  to  practice  the 
somewhat  monotonous  domestic  virtues?  You  need  not 
be  afraid  of  hurting  my  feelings,  Millicent,  by  veiling  your 
meaning.  But,  in  the  first  place,  at  the  time  you  trans- 
ferred your  affections  to  me  I  had  the  money,  and,  in  the 
second,  I  must  either  carry  out  what  you  call  my  pro- 
gramme or  go  down  with  a  crash  shortly.  If  luck  favors 
me  the  prize  I  am  striving  for  is,  however,  worth  winning, 
but  things  are  going  most  confoundedly  badly  just  now. 
In,  fact,  I  shall  be  driven  into  a  corner  unless  you  can 
help  me." 

Mrs.  Leslie  possessed  no  exalted  code  of  honor,  but,  in 
her  present  frame  of  mind,  her  husband's  words  excited 
fear  and  suspicion,  and  she  asked  sharply,  "What  is  it 
you  want  me  to  do  ?  " 

"  I  will  try  to  explain.  You  know  something  of  my 
business.  I  sent  up  a  clever  rascal  to — well,  to  pass  as  a 
workman  seeking  employment,  and  so  enable  us  to  fore- 
stall some  of  Savine's  mechanical  improvements.  He  took 
the  money  I  gave  him  and  started,  but  we  have  never  seen 


168   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

him  since,  and  it  is  particularly  desirable  that  I  should 
know  whether  he  tried  and  failed  or  what  has  become  of 
him.  If  the  man  made  his  exact  commission  known  it 
would  cost  me  my  place.  The  very  people  who  would 
applaud  me  if  successful  would  be  the  first  to  make  a 
scapegoat  of  me  otherwise." 

"  Your  explanation  is  not  quite  lucid,  but  how  could  I 
get  at  the  truth  ?  " 

"  Ingratiate  yourself  with  Miss  Savine,  or  get  that 
crack-brained  aunt  of  hers  to  cure  your  neuralgia.  There 
are  also  two  young  premium  pupils,  sons  of  leading  Mon- 
treal citizens,  in  Mr.  Savine's  service,  who  dance  attend- 
ance upon  the  fair  Helen  continually.  It  shouldn't  be 
difficult  to  flatter  them  a  little  and  set  them  talking." 

"  Do  you  think  women  are  utterly  foolish,  or  that  they 
converse  about  dams  and  earthworks?"  asked  Millicent, 
trying  to  check  her  rising  indignation. 

"  Xo,  but  I  know  a  good  many  of  you  have  the  devil's 
own  cunning,  and  there  can  be  but  few  much  keener  than 
you.  Women  in  this  country  know  a  great  deal  more 
about  their  lawful  protectors'  affairs  than  they  generally 
do  at  home,  and  Miss  Savine  is  sufficiently  proud  not  to 
care  whose  wife  you  were  if  she  took  a  fancy  to  you." 

"It  would  be  utterly  useless!"  Leslie  looked  his  wife 
over  with  coolly  critical  approval,  noting  how  the  soft 
lamplight  sparkled  in  the  pale  gold  clusters  of  her  hair, 
the  beauty  that  still  hung  to  her  somewhat  careworn  face, 
and  how  the  costly  dress  enhanced  the  symmetry  of  a 
finely-moulded  frame. 

"  Then  why  can't  you  confine  your  efforts  to  the  men  ? 
You  are  pretty  and  clever  enough  to  wheedle  secrets  out 
of  Thurston's  self  even,  now  you  have  apparently  become 
recoil'  tied  to  him." 

>•  the  first  time  since  the  revelations  that  followed 

'-  downfall  a  red  brand  of  shame  and  singer  flamed 

in  Millicenfs  cheeks.     She  rose,  facing  the  speaker  with 

an  almost  breathless  '"Dow  dare  you?     Is  there  no  limit 


MILLICENT    TURNS    TRAITRESS       169 

to  the  price  I  must  pay  for  my  folly  ?    Thurston  was . 

But  how  could  any  woman  compare  him  with  you?" 

"  Sit  down  again,  Millicent,"  suggested  Leslie  with  an 
uneasy  laugh.  "These  heroics  hardly  become  you — and 
nobody  can  extort  a  great  deal  in  return  for — nothing 
better  than  you.  In  any  case,  it's  no  use  now  debating 
whether  one  or  both  of  us  were  foolish.  I'm  speaking  no 
more  than  the  painful  truth  when  I  say  that  if  I  can't  get 
the  man  back  into  my  hands  I  shall  have  to  make  a  break 
without  a  dollar  from  British  Columbia.  Since  you  have 
offended  your  English  friends  past  forgiveness,  God  knows 
what  would  become  of  you  if  that  happened,  while  Thurs- 
ton would  marry  Miss  Savine  and  sail  on  to  riches — con- 
fusion to  him !  " 

Millicent  was  never  afterwards  certain  why  she  ac- 
cepted the  quest  from  which  she  shrank  with  loathing,  at 
first.  While  her  husband  proceeded  to  substantiate  the 
truth  of  his  statement,  she  was  conscious  of  rage  and 
shame,  as  well  as  a  profound  contempt  for  him;  and,  be- 
cause of  it,  she  felt  an  illogical  desire  to  inflict  suffering 
upon  the  man  whom  she  now  considered  had  too  readily 
accepted  his  rejection.  Naturally,  she  disliked  Miss  Sa- 
vine. She  was  possessed  by  an  abject  fear  of  poverty,  and 
so,  turning  a  troubled  face  towards  the  man,  she  said : 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  shall  ever  forgive  you,  and  I  feel 
that  you  will  live  to  regret  this  night's  work  bitterly. 
However,  as  you  say,  it  is  over  late  for  us  to  fear  losing 
the  self-respect  we  parted  with  long  ago.  Rest  contented 
—I  will  try." 

"That  is  better,  we  are  what  ill-luck  or  the  devil 
made  us"  replied  Leslie,  laying  his  hand  on  his  wife's 
white  shoulder,  but  in  spite  of  her  recent  declaration 
Millicent  shrank  from  his  touch. 

"  Your  fingers  burn  me.  Take  them  away.  As  I  said, 
I  will  help  you,  but  if  there  was  any  faint  hope  of  happi- 
ness or  better  things  left  us,  you  have  killed  it,"  she  de- 
clared in  a  decided  tone. 


170      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

"I  should  say  the  chance  was  hardly  worth  counting 
on,"  answered  Leslie,  as  he  withdrew  to  soothe  himself 
with  a  brandy-and-soda.  Millicent  sat  still  in  her  chair, 
with  her  hands  clenched  hard  on  the  arms  of  it,  staring 
straight  before  her. 


CHAPTEK    XVII 

THE  INFATUATION   OF  ENGLISH   JIM 

It  was  perhaps  hardly  wise  of  Geoffrey  Thurston  to  sud- 
denly promote  English  Jim  from  the  position  of  camp 
cook  to  that  of  amanuensis.  Geoffrey,  however,  found 
himself  hard  pressed  when  it  became  necessary  to  divide 
his  time  between  Vancouver  and  the  scene  of  practical 
operations,  and  he  remembered  that  the  man  he  had  pro- 
moted had  been  Helen's  protege.  James  Gillow  was  a  fair 
draughtsman,  also,  and,  if  not  remarkable  otherwise  for 
mental  capacity,  wielded  a  facile  pen,  and  Geoffrey  found 
it  a  relief  to  turn  his  rapidly-increasing  correspondence 
over  to  him.  It  was  for  this  reason  Gillow  accompanied 
him  on  a  business  trip  to  Victoria. 

English  Jim  enjoyed  the  visit,  the  more  so  because  he 
found  one  or  two  acquaintances  who  had  achieved  some 
degree  of  prosperity  in  that  fair  city.  He  was  entertained 
so  well  that  on  the  morning  of  Geoffrey's  return  he 
boarded  the  steamer  contented  with  himself  and  the  world 
in  general.  He  was  perfectly  sober,  so  he  afterwards  de- 
cided, or  on  board  a  rolling  vessel  he  could  never  have  suc- 
ceeded in  working  out  quantities  from  rough  sketches 
Thurston  gave  him.  But  he  had  breakfasted  with  his 
friends,  just  before  sailing,  and  the  valedictory  potations 
had  increased,  instead  of  assuaging,  his  thirst. 

The  steamer  was  a  fast  one.  The  day  was  pleasant  with 
the  first  warmth  of  Spring,  and  Geoffrey  sat  under  the  lee 
of  a  deckhouse  languidly  enjoying  a  cigar  and  looking  out 
across  the  sparkling  sea.  Gillow,  who  came  up  now  and 
then  for  a  breath  of  air,  envied  him  each  time  he  returned 
to  pore  over  papers  that  rose  and  fell  perplexingly  on  one 
end  of  the  saloon  table.    It  was  hard  to  get  his  scale  ex- 

171 


172   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

actly  on  the  lines  of  the  drawings;  the  sunrays  that  beat 
in  through  the  skylights  dazzled  his  eyes,  and  his  sight 
did  not  become  much  keener  after  each  visit  to  the  bar. 
Nevertheless,  few  persons  would  have  suspected  English 
Jim  of  alcoholic  indulgence  as  he  jotted  down  weights 
and  quantities  in  his  pocket-book. 

Meantime,  Thurston  began  to  find  the  view  of  the 
snow-clad  Olympians  grow  monotonous.  It  is  true  that 
ever}-  pinnacle  was  silhouetted,  a  spire  of  unsullied  white- 
ness, against  softest  azure.  The  peaks  towered,  a  sight  to 
entrance  the  vision — ethereally  majestic  above  a  cerulean 
sea — but  Geoffrey  had  seen  rather  too  much  snow  un- 
pleasantly close  at  hand  within  the  last  few  months. 
Therefore,  he  opened  the  newspaper  beside  him,  and 
frowned  to  see  certain  rumors  he  had  heard  in  Victoria 
embodied  in  an  article  on  the  Crown  lands  policy.  Any- 
one with  sufficient  knowledge  to  read  between  the  lines 
could  identify  the  writer's  instances  of  how  gross  injustice 
might  be  done  the  community  with  certain  conditional 
grants  made  to  Savine. 

"  That  man  has  been  well  posted.  He  may  have  been 
influenced  by  a  mistaken  public  spirit  or  quite  possibly 
by  a  less  praiseworthy  motive;  but  if  we  have  any  more 
bad  breakdowns  I  can  foresee  trouble/'  Geoffrey  said  to 
himself. 

Then  he  turned  his  eyes  towards  the  groups  of  passen- 
gers, and  presently  started  at  the  sight  of  a  lady  carrying 
a  camp  chair,  a  book,  and  a  bundle  of  wrappings  along  the 
heaving  deck.  It  was  Millicent  Leslie,  and  there  was  no 
doubt  that  she  had  recognized  him,  for  she  had  set  down 
her  burden  and  was  waiting  for  his  assistance.  Geoffrey 
was  at  her  side  in  a  moment  and  presently  ensconced  her 
snugly  under  the  lee  of  the  deckhouse,  where  he  waited, 
by  no  means  wholly  pleased  at  the  meeting.  He  had  spent 
most  of  the  previous  night  with  certain  men  interested  in 
finance  and  provincial  politics,  and  being  new  to  the  gen- 
tle art  of  wire-pulling  had  not  quite  recovered  his  serenity. 


THE    INFATUATION    OF    ENGLISH    JIM     173 

He  regretted  the  good  cigar  he  had  thrown  away,  and 
scarcely  felt  equal  to  sustaining  the  semi-sentimental 
trend  of  conversation  Millicent  had  affected  whenever  he 
met  her,  but  she  was  alone,  and  cut  off  all  hope  of  escape 
by  saying: 

"You  will  not  desert  me.  One  never  feels  solitude  so 
much  as  when  left  to  one's  own  resources  among  a  crowd 
of  strangers." 

"  Certainly  not,  if  you  can  put  up  with  my  company ; 
but  where  is  your  husband  ?  "  Geoffrey  responded.  Milli- 
cent looked  up  at  him  with  a  chastened  expression. 

"  Enjoying  himself.  Some  gentlemen,  whose  good-will 
is  worth  gaining,  asked  him  to  go  inland  for  a  few  days' 
fishing,  and  he  said  it  was  necessary  he  should  accept  the 
invitation.  Accordingly,  I  am  as  usual  left  to  my  own 
company  while  I  make  a  solitary  journey  down  the  Sound. 
It  is  hardly  pleasant,  but  I  suppose  all  men  are  much  the 
same,  and  we  poor  women  must  not  complain." 

Millicent  managed  to  convey  a  great  deal  more  than 
she  said,  and  her  sigh  suggested  that  she  often  suffered 
keenly  from  loneliness;  but  while  Geoffrey  felt  sorry  for 
her,  he  was  occupied  by  another  thought  just  then,  and 
did  not  at  first  answer. 

"  What  are  you  puzzling  over,  Geoffrey  ? "  she  asked, 
and  the  man  smiled  as  he  answered : 

"  I  was  wondering  if  the  same  errand  which  took  your 
husband  to  Victoria,  was  the  same  that  sent  me  there." 

"  I  cannot  say."  Millicent's  gesture  betokened  weari- 
ness. "  I  know  nothing  of  my  husband's  business,  and  must 
do  him  the  justice  to  say  that  he  seldom  troubles  me  about 
it.  I  have  little  taste  for  details  of  intricate  financial 
scheming,  but  practical  operations,  like  your  task  among 
the  mountains,  would  appeal  to  me.  It  must  be  both 
romantic  and  inspiring  to  pit  one's  self  against  the  rude 
forces  of  Nature ;  but  one  grows  tired  of  the  prosaic  strug- 
gle which  is  fought  by  eating  one's  enemies'  dinners  and 
patiently  bearing  the  slights  of  lukewarm  allies'  wives. 


174      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

However,  since  the  fear  of  poverty  is  always  before  me,  I 
try  to  play  my  part  in  it." 

Helen  Savine  had  erred  strangely  when  she  concluded 
that  Geoffrey  Thurston  was  without  sympathy.  Hard  and 
painfully  blunt  as  he  could  be,  he  was  nevertheless  com- 
passionate towards  women,  though  not  always  happy  in 
expressing  his  feelings,  and  when  Millicent  folded  her 
slender  hands  with  a  pathetic  sigh,  he  was  moved  to  sin- 
cere pity  and  indignation.  He  knew  that  some  of  the 
worthy  Colonials'  wives  and  daughters  could  be,  on  occa- 
sion, almost  brutally  frank,  and  that,  in  spite  of  his  efforts, 
Leslie  was  not  wholly  popular. 

"  I  can  quite  understand !  It  must  be  a  trying  life  for 
you,  but  there  are  always  chances  for  an  enterprising  man 
in  this  country,  and  you  must  hope  that  your  husband 
will  shortly  raise  you  above  the  necessity  of  enduring  un- 
congenial social  relations." 

"  Please  don't  think  I  am  complaining."  Millicent  read 
his  sympathy  in  his  eyes.  "  It  was  only  because  you  looked 
so  kind  that  I  spoke  so  frankly.  I  fear  that  I  have  grown 
morbid  and  said  too  much.  But  one-sided  confidence  is 
hardly  fair,  and,  to  change  the  subject,  tell  me  how  fortune 
favors  you." 

"Where  shall  I  begin?" 

Millicent  smiled,  as  most  men  would  have  fancied,  be- 

witchingly. 

"  You  need  not  be  bashful.  Tell  me  about  your  ad- 
ventures in  the  mountains,  with  all  the  hairbreadth  es- 
capes, fantastic  coloring,  and  romantic  medley  of  incidents 
that  must  be  crowded  into  the  life  of  anyone  engaged  in 
such  work  as  yours." 

"  I  am  afraid  the  romance  wears  thin,  leaving  only  a 
monotonous,  not  to  say  sordid,  reality,  while  details  of 
cubic  quantities  would  hardly  interest  you.  Still,  and  re- 
member you  have  brought  it  upon  yourself,  I  will  do  my 
best." 

Geoffrey  reluctantly  began  an   account  of  his  experi- 


THE    INFATUATION    OF    ENGLISH    JIM     175 

ences,  speaking  in  an  indifferent  manner  at  first,  but 
warming  to  his  subject,  until  he  spoke  eloquently  at 
length.  He  was  not  a  vain  man,  but  Millicent  had  set  the 
right  chord  vibrating  when  she  chose  the  topic  of  his  new- 
world  experiences.  He  stopped  at  last  abruptly,  with  an 
uneasy  laugh. 

"  There !  I  must  have  tired  you,  but  you  must  blame 
yourself,"  he  said. 

"  No !  "  Millicent  assured  him.  "  I  have  rarely  heard 
anything  more  interesting.  It  must  be  a  very  hard  battle, 
well  worth  winning,  but  you  are  fortunate  in  one  respect 
— having  only  the  rock  and  river  to  contend  against  in- 
stead of  human  enemies." 

"  I  am  afraid  we  have  both,"  was  the  incautious  an- 
swer, and  Millicent  looked  out  across  the  white-flecked 
waters  as  she  commented  indifferently,  "  But  there  can  be 
nobody  but  simple  cattle-raisers  and  forest-clearers  in  that 
region,  and  what  could  your  enemies  gain  by  following  you 
there?" 

"  They  might  interfere  with  my  plans  or  thwart  them. 
One  of  them  nearly  did  so ! "  and  Geoffrey,  hesitating, 
glanced  down  at  his  companion  just  a  second  too  late  to 
notice  the  look  of  suspiciously-eager  interest  in  her  face, 
for  Millicent  had  put  on  the  mask  again.  She  was  a  clever 
actress,  quick  to  press  into  her  service  smile  or  sigh, 
where  words  might  have  been  injudicious,  and  with  femi- 
nine curiosity  and  love  of  unearthing  a  secret,  was  bent  on 
drawing  out  the  whole  story.  It  did  not  necessarily  fol- 
low that  she  should  impart  the  secret  to  her  husband,  she 
said  to  herself.  Geoffrey  was,  for  the  moment,  off  his 
guard,  and  victory  seemed  certain  for  the  woman. 

"  How  did  that  happen  ? "  she  asked,  outwardly  with 
languid  indifference,  inwardly  quivering  with  suspense, 
but,  as  luck  would  have  it,  the  steamer,  entering  one  of 
the  tide  races  which  sweep  those  narrow  waters,  rolled 
wildly  just  then,  and  Geoffrey  held  her  chair  fast  while 
the  book  fell  from  her  knee  and  went  sliding  down  the 


176   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

slanted  deck.  Vexed  and  nervously  anxious,  Millicent  bit 
one  red  lip  while  Thurston  pursued  the  volume,  and  she 
could  hardy  conceal  her  chagrin  when  he  returned  with  it. 

"  It  flew  open  and  a  page  or  two  got  wet  in  the  scup- 
pers. Still,  it  will  soon  dry  in  the  sun,  and  because  I  did 
my  best,  you  will  excuse  me  being  a  few  seconds  too  slow 
to  save  it,"  Geoffrey  apologized. 

Millicent  was  willing  to  allow  him  to  deceive  himself 
as  to  the  cause  of  her  annoyance. 

"  It  was  a  borrowed  book,  and  I  can  hardly  return  it  in 
this  condition.  It  is  really  vexatious,"  she  replied,  won- 
dering how  to  lead  the  conversation  back  to  the  place 
where  it  was  interrupted.  She  might  have  succeeded,  but 
fate  seemed  against  her.  A  passenger,  who  knew  them 
both,  strolled  by  and  nodded  to  Geoffrey. 

"  I  have  been  looking  for  you,  Thurston,  and  if  Mrs. 
Leslie,  accepting  my  excuses,  can  spare  you  for  a  few 
minutes,  I  have  something  important  to  tell  you,"  said 
the  man.  "  I  wouldn't  have  disturbed  you,  but  we'll  be 
alongside  Vancouver  wharf  very  shortly." 

M  illicent  could  only  bow  in  answer,  and  after  an  apolo- 
getic glance  in  her  direction,  Geoffrey  followed  the  pas- 


senger. 


"  Mrs.  Leslie's  a  handsome  woman,  though  one  would 
guess  she  had  a  temper  of  her  own.  Perhaps  you  didn't 
notice  it,  but  she  just  looked  daggers  at  you  when  you  let 
that  hook  get  away,"  observed  the  companion,  who  smiled 
when  Geoffrey  answered: 

"  Presumably,  you  didn't  take  all  this  trouble  to  ac- 
quaint me  with  that  fact?" 

'•  No,"  admitted  the  man,  with  a  whimsical  gesture. 
"  It  was  something  much  more  interesting — about  the 
agitation  some  folks  are  trying  to  whoop  up  against  your 
partner." 

Geoffrey  found  the  information  of  so  much  interest  that 
the  steamer  was  sweeping  through  the  pine-shrouded 
Narrows  which  forms  the  gateway  of  Vancouver's  land- 


THE    INFATUATION    OF    ENGLISH    JIM     177 

locked  harbor  when  he  returned  to  Millicent,  with  Eng- 
lish Jim  following  discreetly  behind  him. 

"  I  am  sorry  that,  as  we  are  half-an-hour  late,  I  shall 
barely  have  time  to  keep  an  important  business  appoint- 
ment," said  Thurston.  "  However,  as  the  Sound  boat  does 
not  sail  immediately,  my  assistant,  Mr.  Gillow,  will  be 
able  to  look  after  your  baggage,  and  secure  a  good  berth 
for  you.  You  will  get  hold  of  the  purser,  and  see  Mrs. 
Leslie  is  made  comfortable  in  every  way  before  you  follow 
me,  Gillow.    I  shall  not  want  you  for  an  hour  or  two." 

Millicent  smiled  on  the  assistant,  who  took  his  place 
beside  her,  as  the  steamer  ran  alongside  the  wharf,  and 
his  employer  hurried  away.  English  Jim  was  a  young, 
good-looking  man  of  some  education,  and,  since  his  pro- 
motion from  the  cook-shed,  had  indulged  himself  in  a 
former  weakness  for  tasteful  apparel.  He  had  also,  though 
Thurston  did  not  notice  it,  absorbed  just  sufficient  alco- 
holic stimulant  to  render  him  vivacious  in  speech  without 
betraying  the  reason  for  it,  and  Millicent,  who  found  him 
considerably  more  amusing  than  Geoffrey,  wondered 
whether,  since  she  had  failed  with  the  one,  she  might  not 
succeed  with  the  other.  English  Jim  no  more  connected 
her  with  the  servant  of  the  corporation  whose  interests 
were  opposed  to  Savine's  than  he  remembered  the  brass 
baggage  checks  in  his  pocket.  His  gratified  vanity  blinded 
him  to  everything  besides  the  pleasure  of  being  seen  in  his 
stylish  companion's  company. 

He  found  a  sunny  corner  for  her  beside  one  of  the  big 
Sound  steamer's  paddle  casings,  from  which  she  could 
look  across  the  blue  waters  of  the  forest-girt  inlet,  brought 
up  a  chair  and  some  English  papers,  and  after  Millicent 
had  chatted  with  him  graciously,  was  willing  to  satisfy 
her  curiosity  to  the  utmost  when  she  said  with  a  smile: 

"You  are  a  confidential  assistant  of  Mr.  Thurston's? 
He  is  an  old  friend  of  mine,  and  knowing  his  energy.  I 
dare  say  he  works  you  very  hard." 

"  Hard   is   scarcely   an   adequate   term,    madam,"    an- 


178   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

6wered  English  Jim.  "  Xothing  can  tire  my  respected 
chief,  and  unfortunately,  he  expects  us  all  to  equal  him. 
He  found  me  occupation — writing  his  letters — until  1  A. 
M.  this  morning ;  and,  I  believe,  must  have  remained  awake 
himself  until  it  was  almost  light,  making  drawings  which 
I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  poring  over,  all  the  way  across. 
Don't  you  think,  madam,  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  work  so 
hard,  that  one  has  never  leisure  for  the  serene  contempla- 
tion which  is  one  of  the — one  of  the  best  things  in  life. 
Besides,  people  who  do  so,  are  also  apt  to  deprive  others 
of  their  opportunities." 

u  Perhaps  so,  though  I  hardly  think  Mr.  Thurston 
would  agree  with  you.  For  instance  ?  "  asked  Millicent, 
finding  his  humor  infectious,  for  English  Jim  could  gather 
all  the  men  in  camp  about  him,  when  half  in  jest  and  half 
in  earnest  he  began  one  of  his  discourses. 

"  These ! "  was  the  answer,  and  the  speaker  thrust  his 
hand  into  his  jacket  pocket.  "If  Mr.  Thurston  had  not 
been  of  such  tireless  nature,  I  might  have  found  leisure 
to  admire  the  beauty  of  this  most  entrancing  coast  scenery, 
instead  of  puzzling  over  weary  figures  in  a  particularly 
stuffy  saloon." 

He  held  up  a  large  handful  of  papers  as  he  spoke, 
glanced  at  them  disdainfully,  and,  pointing  vaguely  across 
the  inlet,  continued,  "  Is  not  an  hour's  contemplation  of 
such  a  prospect  better  than  many  days'  labor?" 

Millicent  laughed  outright,  and,  because,  though  Eng- 
lish Jim's  voice  was  even,  and  his  accent  crisp  and  clean, 
his  fingers  were  not  quite  so  steady  as  they  might  have 

en,  one  of  the  papers  fluttered,  unnoticed  by  either  of 
them,  to  her  feet. 

"I  feel  tempted  to  agree  with  you,"  Millicent  rejoined, 
wishing  that  she  need  not  press  on  to  the  main  point,  for 
English  Jim  promised  to  afford  the  sort  of  entertainment 
which  she  enjoyed.  "  But  a  man  of  your  frame  of  mind 
must  find  scanty  opportunity  for  considering  such  ques- 
tions among  the  mountains." 


THE    INFATUATION    OF    ENGLISH    JIM     179 

"  That  is  so,"  was  the  rueful  answer.  "  We  commence 
our  toil  at  daybreak,  and  too  often  continue  until  mid- 
night. There  are  times  when  the  monotony  jars  upon  a 
sensitive  mind,  as  the  camp  cooking  does  upon  a  sensitive 
palate.  But  our  chief  never  expects  more  from  us  than 
he  will  do  himself,  and  is  generous  in  rewarding  merito- 
rious service." 

"  So  I  should  suppose,"  commented  Millicent.  "  Know- 
ing this,  you  will  all  be  very  loyal  to  him  ?  " 

"  Every  one  of  us !  "  The  loyalty  of  English  Jim,  who 
gracefully  ignored  the  inference  and  fell  into  the  trap,  was 
evident  enough.  "  Of  course,  we  do  not  always  approve 
of  being  tired  to  death,  but  where  our  chief  considers  it 
necessary,  we  are  content  to  obey  him.  In  fact,  it  would 
not  make  much  difference  if  we  were  not,"  he  added 
whimsically.  "  There  was,  however,  one  instance  of  a 
black  sheep,  or  rather  wolf  of  the  contemptible  coyote 
species  in  sheep's  clothing,  whom  I  played  a  minor  part  in 
catching.  But,  naturally,  you  will  not  care  to  hear  about 
this?" 

"  I  should,  exceedinglv.  Did  I  not  sav  that  I  am  one 
of  Mr.  Thurston's  oldest  friends?  I  should  very  much 
like  to  hear  about  the  disguised  coyote.  I  presume  you  do 
not  mean  a  real  one,  and  are  speaking  figuratively  ?  " 

Gillow  was  flattered  by  the  glance  she  cast  upon  him, 
and,  remembering  only  that  this  gracious  lady  was  one  of 
his  employer's  friends,  proceeded  to  gratify  her  by  launch- 
ing into  a  vivid  description  of  what  happened  on  the  night 
when  he  dropped  the  prowler  into  the  river.  He  had, 
however,  sense  enough  to  conclude  with  the  capture  of  the 
man. 

"  But  you  have  not  told  me  the  sequel,"  said  Millicent. 
"  Did  you  lynch  the  miscreant  in  accordance  with  the  tra- 
ditional customs  of  the  West,  or  how  did  Mr.  Thurston 
punish  him?  He  is  not  a  man  who  lightly  forgives  an  in- 
jury.^ 

Xo,"   replied   Gillow,   rashly.     "Against  my   advice, 


"  xr. 


180   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

though  my  respected  employer  is  difficult  to  reason  with, 
he  kept  the  rascal  in  camp,  both  feeding  and  paying  him 
well." 

"  You  surprise  me.  I  should  have  expected  a  more 
dramatic  finale."  Millicentfs  tone  might  have  deceived  a 
much  more  clever  man  who  did  not  know  her  husband's 
position.     "Why  did  he  do  so?" 

There  were,  however,  limits  to  English  Jim's  communi- 
cativeness, and  he  answered :  "  Mr.  Thurston  did  not  ex- 
plain his  motives,  and  it  is  not  always  wise  to  ask  him  in- 
"jndicious  questions." 

Millicent,  having  learned  what  she  desired  to  know, 
rested  content  with  this,  and  chatted  on  other  subjects 
until  the  big  bell  clanged,  and  the  whistle  shrieked  out  its 
warning.  Then  she  dismissed  Gillow  with  her  thanks, 
and  the  last  she  saw  of  him  he  was  being  held  back  by  a 
policeman  as  he  struggled  to  scale  a  lofty  railing  while 
the  steamer  slid  clear  of  the  wharf.  He  waved  an  arm 
in  the  air  shouting  frantically,  and  through  the  thud  of 
paddles  she  caught  the  disjointed  sentences,  "  Very  sorry. 
Forgot  baggage  checks — all  your  boxes  here.  Leave  first 
steamer — sending  checks  by  mail ! " 

"  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  turn  back,  madam,"  said  the 
purser  to  whom  Millicent  appealed.  "The  baggage  will, 
no  doubt,  follow  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

"  But  that  gentleman  has  my  ticket,  and  doesn't  know 
my  address!"  protested  the  unfortunate  passenger,  and 
the  purser  answered : 

"  I  really  cannot  help  it,  but  I  will  telegraph  to  any  of 
your  friends  from  the  first  way-port  we  call  at,  madam." 

When  the  steamer  had  vanished  hehind  the  stately  pines 
shrouding  I  he  Narrows,  English  Jim  sat  down  upon  a  tim- 
ber-head   and   swore  a  little  at  what  he  called  his     luck, 

ore  he  uneasily  recounted  the  folded  papers  in  his 
v.  a  I  IcV. 

"  A  pretty  mess  I've  made  of  it  all,  and  there'll  be  no 
•  id  of  trouble  if  Thurston  hears  of  this,"  he  said  aloud, 


THE    INFATUATION    OF    ENGLISH    JIM     181 

so  that  a  loafing  porter  heard  and  grinned.  "  I'll  write 
a  humble  letter — but,  confound  it,  I  don't  know  where 
she's  going  to,  and  now  here  is  one  of  those  distressful 
tracings  missing.  It  must  have  been  that  old  sketch  of 
Savine's,  and  Thurston  will  never  want  it,  while  nobody 
but  a  draughtsman  could  make  head  or  tail  of  the  thing. 
Anyway,  I'll  get  some  dinner  before  I  decide  what  is  best 
to  be  done." 

While  Giilow  endeavored  to  enjoy  his  dinner,  and,  being 
an  easy-going  man,  partially  succeeded,  Millicent,  who  had 
picked  up  a  folded  paper,  leaned  upon  the  steamer's  rail 
with  it  open  in  her  hand. 

"  This  is  Greek  to  me,  but  I  suppose  it  is  of  value.  I 
will  keep  it,  and  perhaps  give  it  back  to  Geoffrey,"  she 
ruminated.  "  The  game  was  amusing,  but  I  feel  horribly 
mean,  and  whether  I  shall  tell  Harry  or  not  depends  very 
much  upon  his  behavior." 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    BURSTING    OF    THE   SLUICE 

One  morning  of  early  summer,  Geoffrey  Thurston  lay 
neither  asleep,  nor  wholly  awake,  inside  his  double  tent. 
The  canvas  was  partly  drawn  open,  and  from  his  camp-cot 
he  could  see  a  streak  of  golden  sunlight  grow  broader 
across  the  valley,  while  rising  in  fantastic  columns  the 
night  mists  rolled  away.  The  smell  of  dew-damped  cedars 
mingled  with  the  faint  aromatic  odors  of  wood  smoke.. 
The  clamor  of  frothing  water  vibrated  through  the  sweet 
cool  air,  for  the  river  was  swollen  by  melted  snow. 
Geoffrey  lay  still,  breathing  in  the  glorious  freshness, 
drowsily  content.  All  had  gone  smoothly  with  the  works, 
at  least,  during  the  last  month  or  two.  Each  time  that 
she  rode  down  to  camp  with  her  father  from  the  mountain 
ranch,  Helen  had  spoken  to  him  with  unusual  kindness. 
Savine  would,  when  well  enough,  spend  an  hour  in  Geof- 
frey's tent.  While  some  of  the  contractor's  suggestions 
were  characterized  by  his  former  genius,  most  betrayed  a 
serious  weakening  of  his  mental  powers,  and  it  was  ap- 
parent that  he    grew  rapidly  frailer,  physically. 

On  this  particular  morning  Geoffrey  found  something 
very  soothing  in  the  river's  song,  and,  yielding  to  tempta- 
tion, he  turned  his  head  from  the  growing  light  to  indulge 
in  another  half-hour's  slumber.  Suddenly,  a  discordant 
note,  jarring  through  the  deep-toned  harmonies,  struck 
his  ears,  which  were  quick  to  distinguish  between  the  bass 
roar  of  the  canon  and  the  higher-pitched  calling  of  the 
rapid  at  its  entrance.  What  had  caused  it  he  could  not 
ti'll.  He  dressed  with  greatest  haste  and  was  striding 
down  into  the  camp  when  Mattawa  Tom  and  Gillow  came 
running  towards  him. 

182 


THE    BURSTING   OF    THE    SLUICE      183 

"  Sluice  number  six  has  busted,  and  the  water's  going 
in  over  Hudson's  ranch,"  shouted  Tom.  "  I've  started  all 
the  men  there's  room  for  heaving  dirt  in,  but  the  river's 
going  through  in  spite  of  them." 

Geoffrey  asked  no  questions,  but  ran  at  full  speed 
through  the  camp,  shouting  orders  as  he  went,  and  pres- 
ently stood  breathless  upon  a  tall  bank  of  raw  red  earth. 
On  one  side  the  green-stained  river  went  frothing  past ;  on 
the  other  a  muddy  flood  spouted  through  a  breach,  and 
already  a  shallow  lake  was  spreading  fast  across  the  cleared 
land,  licking  up  long  rows  of  potato  haulm  and  timothy 
grass.  Men  swarmed  like  bees  about  the  sloping  side  of 
the  bank,  hurling  down  earth  and  shingle  into  the  aper- 
ture, but  a  few  moments'  inspection  convinced  Geoffrey 
that  more  heroic  measures  were  needed  and  that  they 
labored  in  vain.  Raising  his  hand,  he  called  to  the  men  to 
stop  work  and,  when  the  clatter  of  shovels  ceased,  he 
quietly  surveyed  the  few  poor  fields  rancher  Hudson  had 
won  from  the  swamp.  His  lips  were  pressed  tight  to- 
gether, and  his  expression  showed  his  deep  concern. 

"There's  only  one  thing  to  be  done.  Open  two  more 
sluice  gates,  Tom,"  he  commanded. 

"You'll  drown  out  the  whole  clearing,"  ventured  the 
foreman,  and  Geoffrey  nodded. 

"  Exactly !  Can't  you  see  the  river  will  tear  all  this 
part  of  the  dyke  away  unless  we  equalize  the  pressure  on 
both  sides  of  it?     Go  ahead  at  once  and  get  it  done." 

The  man  from  Mattawa  wondered  at  the  bold  order, 
but  his  master  demanded  swift  obedience  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  execute  it,  while  Geoffrey  stood  fast  watching 
two  more  huge  sheets  of  froth  leap  out.  He  knew  that 
very  shortly  rancher  Hudson's  low-level  possessions  would 
be  buried  under  several  feet  of  water. 

"It's  done,  sir,  and  a  blamed  bad  job  it  is!"  said  the 
foreman,  returning;  and  Geoffrey  asked:  "How  did  it 
happen  ?  " 

'The  sluice  gate  wasn't  strong  enough,  river  rose  a 


184   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

foot  yesterday,  and  she  just  busted.  I  was  around  bright 
and  early  and  found  her  splitting.  Got  a  line  round  the 
pieces — they're  floating  beneath  you." 

"  Heave  them  up !  "  ordered  Geoffrey. 

He  was  obeyed,  and  for  a  few  minutes  glanced  at  the 
timber  frame  with  a  puzzled  expression,  then  turning  to 
Gillow,  he  said :  "  You  know  I  condemned  that  mode  of 
scarfing,  and  the  whole  thing's  too  light.  What  carpen- 
ters made  it?" 

"  It's  one  of  Mr.  Savine's  gates,  sir.  I've  got  the  draw- 
ing for  it  somewhere,"  was  the  answer,  and  Geoffrey 
frowned. 

"  Then  you  will  keep  that  fact  carefully  to  yourself," 
he  replied.  "  It  is  particularly  unfortunate.  This  is 
about  the  only  gate  I  have  not  overhauled  personally,  but 
one  cannot  see  to  quite  everything,  and  naturally  the 
breakage  takes  place  at  that  especial  point." 

"  Very  good,  sir,"  remarked  Gillow.  "  Things  generally 
do  happen  in  just  that  way.  Here's  rancher  Hudson 
coming,  and  he  looks  tolerably  angry." 

The  man  who  strode  along  the  dyke  was  evidently  in- 
furiated, a  fact  which  was  hardly  surprising,  considering 
that  he  owned  the  flooded  property.  The  workmen,  who 
now  leaned  upon  their  shovels,  waited  for  the  meeting 
between  him  and  their  master  in  the  expectation  of 
amusement. 

u  What  in  the  name  of  thunder  do  you  mean  by  turn- 
ing your  infernal  river  loose  on  my  ranch?  "  inquired  the 
newcomer.     Thurston  rejoined : 

"  May  I  suggest  that  you  try  to  master  your  temper 
and  consider  the  case  coolly  before  you  ask  any  further 
questions." 

"  Consider  it  coolly ! "  shouted  Hudson.  "  Coolly ! 
when  the  blame  water's  washing  out  my  good  potatoes  by 
the  hundred  bushel,  and  slooshing  mud  and  shingle  a' I 
over  my  hay.  Great  Columbus!  IT  make  things  red 
hot  for  you." 


THE    BURSTING   OF    THE    SLUICE      185 

"  See  here ! "  and  there  were  signs  that  Thurston  was 
losing  his  temper.  "  What  we  have  done  was  most  un- 
fortunately necessary,  but,  while  I  regret  it  at  least  as 
much  as  you  do,  you  will  not  be  a  loser  financially.  As 
soon  as  the  river  falls,  we  11  run  off  the  water,  measure 
up  the  flooded  land,  and  pay  you  current  prices  for  the 
crop  at  average  acre  yield.  As  you  will  thus  sell  it  with- 
out gathering  or  hauling  to  market,  it's  a  fair  offer." 

Most  of  the  forest  ranchers  in  that  region  would  have 
closed  with  the  offer  forthwith,  but  there  were  reasons 
why  the  one  in  question,  who  was,  moreover,  an  obstinate, 
cantankerous  man,  should  seize  the  opportunity  to  harass 
Thurston. 

"  It's  not  half  good  enough  for  me,"  he  said.  "  How'm 
I  going  to  make  sure  you  won't  play  the  same  trick  again, 
while  it's  tolerably  certain  you  can't  keep  on  paying  up 
for  damage  done  forever.  Then  when  you're  cleaned  out 
where'll  I  be?  This  scheme  which  you'll  never  put 
through's  a  menace  to  the  whole  vallej',  and " 

"  You'll  be  rich,  I  hope,  by  that  time,  but  if  you'll  con- 
fine yourself  to  your  legitimate  grievance  or  come  along 
to  my  tent  I'll  talk  to  you,"  said  Geoffrey.  "  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  you  cast  doubt  upon  my  financial  position  or 
predict  my  failure  before  my  men,  I'll  take  decided 
measures  to  stop  you.  You  have  my  word  that  you  will 
be  repaid  every  cent's  worth  of  damage  done,  and  that 
should  be  enough  for  any  reasonable  person." 

"  It's  not — not  enough  for  me  by  a  long  way,"  shouted 
the  rancher.  "  I'll  demand  a  Government  inspection,. 
I'll— I'll  break  you." 

"Will  you  show  Mr.  Hudson  the  quickest  and  safest 
way  off  this  embankment,  Tom,"  requested  Geoffrey, 
coolly,  and  there  was  laughter  mingled  with  growls  <  f 
approval  from  the  men,  as  the  irate  rancher,  hurling 
threats  over  his  shoulder,  was  solemnly  escorted  along 
the  dyke  by  the  stalwart  foreman.  He  turned  before  de- 
scending, and  shook  his  fist  at  those  who  watched  hiro. 


186      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

"  I  think  you  can  close  the  sluices,"  said  Geoffrey, 
when  the  foreman  returned.  "  Then  set  all  hands  filling 
in  this  hole.     I  want  you,  Gillow." 

"  We  are  going  to  have  trouble,"  he  predicted,  when 
English  Jim  stood  before  him  in  his  tent.  "  Hudson  un- 
fortunately is  either  connected  with  our  enemies,  or  in 
their  clutches,  and  he'll  try  to  persuade  his  neighbors  to 
join  him  in  an  appeal  to  the  authorities.  Send  a  mes- 
senger off  at  once  with  this  telegram  to  Vancouver,  but 
stay — first  find  me  the  drawing  of  the  defective  gate." 

English  Jim  spent  several  minutes  searching  before  he 
answered :  u  I'm  sorry  I  can't  quite  lay  my  hands  upon 
it.  It  may  be  in  Vancouver,  and  I'll  write  a  note  to  the 
folks  down  there." 

He  did  so,  and  when  he  went  out  shook  his  head  rue- 
fully. "  That  confounded  sketch  must  have  been  the  one 
I  lost  on  board  the  steamer,"  he  decided  with  a  qualm  of 
misgiving.  "  However,  there  is  no  use  meeting  trouble 
half-way  by  telling  Thurston  so,  until  I'm  sure  bej'ond 
a  doubt." 

Some  time  had  passed,  and  the  greater  portion  of  Hud- 
son's ranch  still  lay  under  water  when,  in  consequence  of 
representations  made  by  its  owner  and  some  of  his  friends, 
a  Government  official  armed  with  full  powers  to  investi- 
gate held  an  informal  court  of  inquiry  in  the  big  store 
shed,  at  which  most  of  the  neighboring  ranchers  were 
present.  Geoffrey  and  Thomas  Savine,  who  brought  a 
lawyer  with  him,  awaited  the  proceedings  with  some  im- 
patience. 

"  L  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  claim  for  damages. 
If  necessary,  the  sufferers  can  appeal  to  the  civil  courts," 
announced  the  official.  "  My  business  is  to  ascertain 
whether,  as  alleged,  the  way  these  operations  are  con- 
ducted  endangers  the  occupied,  and  unappropriated  Crown 
lands  in  this  vicinity.  I  am  willing  to  hear  your  opin- 
ions, gentlemen,  beginning  with  the  complainants." 

Rancher  Hudson  was  the  first  to  speak,  and  he  said: 


THE    BURSTING   OF    THE    SLUICE      187 


"  No  sensible  man  would  need  much  convincing  that 
it's  mighty  bad  for  growing  crops  to  have  a  full-bore  flood 
turned  loose  on  them.  What's  the  use  of  raising  hay 
and  potatoes  for  the  river  to  wash  away?  And  it's  plain 
that  what  has  just  happened  is  going  to  happen  again. 
Before  Savine  began  these  dykes  the  river  spread  itself 
all  over  the  lower  swamp;  now  the  walls  hold  it  up,  and 
each  time  it  makes  a  hole  in  them,  our  property's  most 
turned  into  a  lake.  I'm  neither  farming  for  pleasure 
nor  running  a  salmon  hatchery." 

There  was  a  hum  of  approval  from  the  speaker's  sup- 
porters, whose  possessions  lay  near  the  higher  end  of  the 
valley,  and  dissenting  growls  from  those  whose  boundaries 
lay  below.  After  several  of  the  ranchers  from  the  lower 
valley  had  spoken  the  official  said : 

"  I  hardly  think  you  have  cited  sufficient  to  convince  an 
unprejudiced  person  that  the  works  are  a  public  danger. 
You  have  certainly  proved  that  two  holdings  have  been 
temporarily  flooded,  but  the  first  speaker  pointed  out  that 
this  was  because  the  river  was  prevented  from  spreading 
all  over  the  lower  end  of  the  valley,  as  it  formerly  did. 
Now  a  portion  of  the  district  is  already  under  cultivation, 
and  even  the  area  under  crop  exceeds  that  of  the  dam- 
aged plots  by  at  least  five  acres  to  one." 

There  was  applause  from  the  men  whose  possessions  had 
been  converted  into  dry  land,  and  Hudson  rose,  red-faced 
and  indignant,  to  his  feet  again. 

"  Has  Savine  bought  up  the  whole  province,  Government 
and  all  ?  That's  what  I'm  wanting  to  know,"  he  rejoined 
indignantly.  "  What  is  it  we  pay  taxes  to  keep  you  fel- 
lows for?  To  look  the  other  way  when  the  rich  man 
winks,  and  stand  by  seeing  nothing  while  he  ruins  poor 
settlers'  hard-won  holdings?  I'm  a  law-abiding  man,  I 
am,  but  I'm  going  to  let  nobody  tramp  on  me." 

A  burst  of  laughter  filled  the  rear  of  the  building  when 
one  of  Hudson's  supporters  pulled  him  down  by  main 
force,  and  held  him  fast,  observing,  "  You  just  sit  right 


188   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

there,  and  look  wise  instead  of  talking  too  much.  I 
guess  you've  said  enough  already  to  mix  everything  up." 

The  official  raised  his  hand.  "I  am  here  to  ask  ques- 
tions and  not  answer  them,"  he  said.  "  Any  more 
speeches  resembling  the  last  would  be  likely  to  get  the  in- 
quirer into  trouble.  I  must  also  remind  Mr.  Hudson  that, 
after  one  inundation,  he  signed  a  document  signifying  his 
approval  of  the  scheme,  and  I  desire  to  ask  him  what  has 
caused  the  change  in  his  opinions." 

Again  there  was  laughter  followed  by  a  few  derisive 
comments  from  the  party  favoring  Thurston's  cause,  while 
one  voice  was  audible  above  the  rest,  "  Hudson's  been  buy- 
ing horses.     Some  Vancouver  speculator's  check  !  " 

The  rancher,  shaking  off  his  follower's  grasp,  bounded 
to  his  feet,  and  glared  at  the  men  behind  him.  "  I'll 
get  square  with  some  of  you  fellows  later  on,"  he  threat- 
ened. Turning  towards  the  officer,  he  went  on :  "  Just 
because  I'm  getting  tired  of  being  washed  out  I've 
changed  my  mind.  When  he's  had  two  crops  ruined,  a 
man  begins  to  get  uneasy  about  the  third  one — see  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  sufficient  reason,"  answered  the  official.  "  Now, 
gentlemen,  I  gather  that  some  of  you  have  benefited  by 
this  scheme.  If  you  have  any  information  to  give  me,  I 
shall  be  pleased  to  hear  it." 

Several  men  told  how  they  had  added  to  their  hold- 
ings many  acres  of  fertile  soil,  which  had  once  been 
swamp,  and  the  Crown  official  said: 

"  I  am  convinced  that  two  small  ranches  have  been 
temporarily  inundated,  and  six  or  seven  benefited.  So 
much  for  that  side  of  the  question.  I  must  now  ascer- 
tain whether  the  work  is  carried  out  in  the  most  efficient 
manner,  and  how  many  have  suffered  in  minor  waya  by 
the  contractors'  willful  neglect,  as  the  petitioners  allege." 

Hudson  and  his  comrades  testified  at  length,  hut  each 
in  turn,  after  making  the  most  of  the  accidental  upset  of 
a  barrow-load  of  earth  among  their  crops,  or  the  blunder- 
ing of  a  steer  into  a  trench,  harked  back  to  the  broken 


THE   BURSTING  OF   THE    SLUICE      189 

sluice.  When  amid  some  laughter  they  concluded,  others 
who  favored  Savine  described  the  precautions  Thurston 
had  taken.  Then  the  inquirer  turned  over  his  papers, 
and  Thomas  Savine  whispered  to  Geoffrey :  "  It's  all  in 
our  favor  so  far,  but  I'm  anxious  about  that  broken 
sluice.  It's  our  weak  point,  and  he's  sure  to  tackle 
it." 

"  Yes,"  agreed  Geoffrey,  whose  face  was  strangely  set. 
"  I  am  anxious  about  it,  too.  Can  you  suggest  anything 
I  should  do,  Mr.  Gray?" 

The  Vancouver  lawyer,  who  had  a  long  experience  in 
somewhat  similar  disputes,  hitched  forward  his  chair. 
"  Xot  at  present,"  he  answered.  "  I  think  with  Mr. 
Savine  that  the  question  of  the  sluice  gate  may  be  serious. 
Allowances  are  made  for  unpreventable  accidents  and 
force  of  circumstances,  but  a  definite  instance  of  a  wholly 
inefficient  appliance  or  defective  workmanship  might  be 
most  damaging.  It  is  particularly  unfortunate  it  was 
framed  timber  of  insufficient  strength  that  failed." 

Geoffrey  made  no  answer,  but  Thomas  Savine,  who 
glanced  at  him  keenly,  fancied  he  set  his  teeth  while  the 
lawyer,  turning  to  the  official  inquirer,  said: 

"  These  gentlemen  have  given  you  all  the  information 
in  their  power,  and  if  you  have  finished  with  them,  I 
would  venture  to  suggest  that  any  technical  details  of  the 
work  concern  only  Mr.  Thurston  and  yourself." 

There  was  a  protest  from  the  assembly,  and  the  officer 
beckoned  for  silence  before  he  answered : 

"  You  gentlemen  seem  determined  between  you  to  con- 
duct the  whole  case  your  own  way.  I  was  about  to 
dismiss  with  thanks  the  neighboring  landholders  who  have 
assisted  me  to  the  best  of  their  ability." 

With  some  commotion  the  store-shed  was  emptied  of 
all  but  the  official,  his  assistant,  and  Thurston's  party. 
Beckoning  to  Geoffrey,  the  official  held  up  before  his 
astonished  eyes  a  plan  of  the  defective  gate.  "  Do  you 
consider   the  timbering  specified  here  sufficient  for  the 


190   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

strain  ?  "  he  asked.     "  I  cannot  press  the  question,  but  it 
would  be  judicious  of  you  to  answer  it." 

"  No ! "  replied  Geoffrey,  divided  between  surprise  and 
dismay. 

The  drawing  was   Savine's.     He  could  recognize   the 
figures  upon  it,  but  it  had  evidently  been  made  when  the 
contractor  was  suffering  from  a  badly-clouded  brain.    The 
broken  gate  itself  was  damaging  evidence,  but  this  was 
worse,  for  a  glance  at  the  design  showed  him  that  the 
artificers  who  worked  from  it  had,  without  orders  even, 
slightly    increased    the    dimensions.     Any    man    with    a 
knowledge  of  mechanical  science  would  condemn  it,  but, 
while  he  had  often  seen  Savine  incapable  of  mental  effort 
of  late,  this  was  the  first  serious  blunder  that  he  had  dis- 
covered.    The  mistake,  he  knew,  would  be  taken  as  evi- 
dence of  sheer  incapacity ;  if  further  inquiry  followed,  per- 
haps it  would  be  published  broadcast  in  the  papers,  and 
Geoffrey  was  above  all  things  proud  of  his  professional 
skill.     Still,  he  had  pledged  his  word  to  both  his  partner 
and  his  daughter,  and  there  was  only  one  course  open  to 
him,  if  the  questions  which  would  follow  made  it  possible. 
The    lawyer,   leaning    forward,    whispered   to    Thomas 
Savine,  and  then  said  aloud,  "  If  that  drawing  is  what  it 
purports  to  be,  it  must  have  been  purloined.     May  we 
ask  accordingly  how  it  came  into  your  possession?" 

"  One  of  the  complainants  forwarded  it  to  me.  He 
said  he— obtained — it,"  was  the  dry  answer.  "  Under  the 
circumstances,  I  hesitate  to  make  direct  use  of  it,  but  by 
the  firm's  stamp  it  appears  genuine." 

"  That  Mr.  Savine  could  personally  be  capable  of  such 
a  mistake  as  this  is  impossible  on  the  face  of  it,"  said  the 
inquirer's  professional  assistant.  "  It  is  the  work  of  a 
hali'-t rained  man,  and  suggests  two  questions,  Do  you 
repudiate  the  plan,  and,  if  you  do  not,  was  it  made  by 
a  responsible  person?     I  presume  you  have  a  draughts- 


man ?  " 


"There  is  no  use  repudiating  anything  that  bears  our 


THE    BURSTING   OF   THE    SLUICE     191 

stamp,"  said  Geoffrey,  disregarding  the  lawyer's  frown, 
and  looking  steadily  into  the  bewildered  face  of  Thomas 
Savine.  "  I  work  out  all  such  calculations  and  make  the 
sketches  myself.     My  assistant  sometimes  checks  them/' 

The  official,  who  had  heard  of  the  young  contractor's 
reputation  for  daring  skill,  looked  puzzled  as  he  com- 
mented : 

"  From  what  you  say  the  only  two  persons  who  could 
have  made  the  blunder  are  Mr.  Savine  and  yourself.  I 
am  advised,  and  agree  with  the  suggestion,  that  Mr. 
Savine  could  never  have  done  so.  From  what  I  have 
heard,  I  should  have  concluded  it  would  have  been 
equally  impossible  with  you;  but  I  can't  help  saying  that 
the  inference  is  plain." 

"Is  not  all  this  beside  the  question?"  interposed  the 
lawyer.  "The  junior  partner  admits  the  plan  was  made 
in  the  firm's  offices,  and  that  should  be  sufficient." 

Geoffrey  held  himself  stubbornly  in  hand  while  the 
officer  answered  that  he  desired  to  ascertain  if  it  was 
the  work  of  a  responsible  person.  He  knew  that  this 
blunder  would  be  recorded  against  him,  and  would  neces- 
sitate several  brilliant  successes  before  it  could  be  obliter- 
ated, but  his  resolution  never  faltered,  and  when  the 
legal  adviser,  laying  a  hand  upon  his  arm,  whispered  some- 
thing softly,  he  shook  off  the  lawyer's  grasp. 

"  The  only  two  persons  responsible  are  Mr.  Savine  and 
myself — and  you  suggested  the  inference  was  plain,"  he 
asserted. 

Here  Gillow,  who  had  been  fidgeting  nervously,  opened 
his  lips  as  if  about  to  say  something,  but  closed  them 
again  when  his  employer,  moving  one  foot  beneath  the 
table,  trod  hard  upon  his  toe. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  should  hardly  mend  matters  by  saying 
I  am  sorry  it  is,"  said  the  official,  dryly.  "However,  a 
mistake  by  a  junior  partner  does  not  prove  your  firm  in- 
capable of  high-class  work,  and  1  hardly  think  you  will 
be  troubled  by  further  interference  after  my  report  is 


192   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

made.  My  superiors  may  warn  you — but  I  must  not 
anticipate.  It  is  as  well  you  answered  frankly,  as,  other- 
wise, I  should  have  concluded  you  were  endeavoring  to 
make  your  profits  at  the  risk  of  the  community ;  but  I 
cannot  help  saying  that  the  admission  may  be  prejudicial 
to  you,  Mr.  Thurston,  if  you  ever  apply  individually  for 
a  Government  contract.  Here  is  the  drawing.  It  is  vour 
property." 

Geoffrey  stretched  out  his  hand  for  it,  but  Savine  was 
too  quick  for  him,  and  when  he  thrust  it  into  his  pocket, 
the  contractor,  rising  abruptly,  stalked  out  of  the  room. 
Gillow,  who  followed  and  overtook  him,  said : 

"  I  can't  understand  this  at  all,  sir.  Mr.  Savine  made 
that  drawing.  I  know  his  arrows  on  the  measurement 
lines,  and  I  was  just  going  to  say  so  when  you  stopped 
me.  I  have  a  confession  to  make.  I  believe  I  dropped 
that  paper  out  of  my  wallet  on  board  the  steamer." 

"  You  have  a  very  poor  memory,  Gillow,"  and  Thurs- 
ton stared  the  speaker  out  of  countenance.  "  I  fear  your 
eyes  deceive  you  at  times  as  well.  You  must  have  lost  it 
somewhere  else.  In  any  case,  if  3*ou  mention  the  fact  to 
anybody  else,  or  repeat  that  you  recognize  Mr.  Savine's 
handiwork,  I  shall  have  to  look  for  an  assistant  who  does 
not  lose  the  documents  with  which  he  is  entrusted." 

Gillow  went  away  growling  to  himself,  but  perfectly 
satisfied  with  both  his  eyesight  and  memory.  Thurston 
had  hardly  dismissed  him  than  Thomas  Savine  ap- 
proached, holding  out  the  sketch. 

"  See  here,  Geoffrey,"  began  the  contractor's  brother, 
and  one  glance  at  the  speaker  was  sufficient  for  Thurston, 
who  stopped  him. 

"  Are  you  coming  to  torment  me  about  that  con- 
founded thing?     Give  it  to  me  at  once,"  he  said. 

Be  Bnatched  the  drawing  from  Savine's  hand,  tore  it 
into  fragments,  and  stamped  them  into  the  mould.  "Now 
that's  done  with  at  la.-<  !  "  he  said. 

"No,"  was  the  answer.     "There's  no  saying  where  a 


THE    BURSTING  OF   THE    SLUICE      193 

thing  like  this  will  end,  if  public  mischief-makers  get  hold 
of  it.  You  have  your  future,  which  means  your  profes- 
sional reputation,  to  think  of.  In  all  human  probability 
my  poor  brother  can't  last  very  long,  and  this  may  handi- 
cap you  for  years.     I  cannot " 

"  Damn  my  professional  reputation !  Can't  you  believe 
your  ears?  "  Geoffrey  broke  in. 

"  I'm  not  blind  yet,  and  would  sooner  trust  my  eyes," 
was  the  dry  answer.  "  Nobody  shall  persuade  me  that  I 
don't  know  my  own  brother's  figures.  There  are  limits, 
Geoffrey,  and  neither  Helen  nor  I  would  hold  our  peace 
about  this." 

"  Listen  to  me !  "  Geoffrey's  face  was  as  hard  as  flint. 
"  I  see  I  can't  bluff  you  as  easily  as  the  Government  man, 
but  I  give  you  fair  warning  that  if  you  attempt  to  make 
use  of  your  suspicions  I'll  find  means  of  checkmating 
you.  Just  supposing  you're  not  mistaken,  a  young  man 
with  any  grit  in  him  could  live  down  a  dozen  similar 
blunders,  and,  if  he  couldn't,  what  is  my  confounded  per- 
sonal credit  in  comparison  with  what  3'our  brother  has 
done  for  me  and  my  promise  to  Miss  Savine?  So  far  as 
I  can  accomplish  it,  Julius  Savine  shall  honorably  wind 
up  a  successful  career,  and  if  you  either  reopen  the  sub- 
ject or  tell  his  daughter  about  the  drawing,  there  will  be 
war  between  you  and  me.  That  is  the  last  word  I  have 
to  say." 

"  I  wonder  if  Helen  knows  the  grit  there  is  in  that 
man,"  pondered  Savine,  when,  seeing  all  protests  were 
useless,  he  turned  away,  divided  between  compunction  and 
gratitude.  Neither  he  nor  the  lawyer  succeeded  in  find- 
ing out  how  the  drawing  fell  into  hostile  hands,  while,  if 
Geoffrey  had  his  suspicions,  he  decided  that  it  might  be 
better  not  to  follow  them  up. 


CHAPTEE    XIX 

THE    ABDUCTION    OF    BLACK    CHRISTY 

There  were  weighty  reasons  why  Christy  Black,  whose 
comrades  reversed  his  name  and  called  him  Black  Christy 
instead,  remained  in  Thurston's  camp  as  long  as  he  did. 
Although  a  good  mechanic,  he  was  by  no  means  fond  of 
manual  labor,  and  he  had  discovered  that  profitable  occu- 
pations were  open  to  an  enterprising  and  not  over-scrupu- 
lous man.  On  the  memorable  night  when  Thurston  fished 
him  out  of  the  river,  his  rescuer  had  made  it  plain  that  he 
must  earn  the  liberal  wages  that  were  promised  to  him. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  Black  had  made  the  most  of  his  op- 
portunities, and  in  doing  so  had  brought  himself  under 
the  ban  of  the  law  during  an  altercation  over  a  disputed 
mineral  claim. 

Black,  who  then  called  himself  by  another  name,  dis- 
appeared before  an  inquiry  as  to  how  the  body  of  one  of 
the  owners  of  the  claim  came  into  a  neighboring  river. 
Only  one  comrade,  and  a  mine-floating  speculator,  who 
stood  behind  the  humbler  disputants,  knew  or  guessed 
at  the  events  which  led  up  the  fatality.  The  comrade 
shortly  afterwards  vanished,  too,  but  the  richer  man,  who 
had  connived  at  Black's  disappearance,  kept  a  close  hand 
on  him,  forcing  him  as  the  price  of  freedom  to  act  as 
cat's-paw  in  risky  operations,  until  Black,  tired  of  tyranny, 
had  been  glad  to  tell  Thurston  part  of  the  truth  and  to 
accept  his  protection.  The  man  from  whose  grip  he 
hoped  he  had  escaped  was  the  one  who  had  helped  Leslie 
out  of  a  difficulty. 

ack  Christy  found,  however,  that  a  life  of  virtuous 
toil  grew  distinctly  monotonous,  and  one  morning,  when 
Mattawa  Tom's  vigilance  was  slack,  he  departed  in  search 

194 


THE    ABDUCTION    OF   BLACK   CHRISTY     195 

of  diversion  in  the  settlement  of  Red  Pine,  which  lay- 
beyond  the  range.  He  found  congenial  society  there, 
and,  unfortunately  for  himself,  went  on  with  a  boon 
companion  next  morning  to  a  larger  settlement  beside 
the  railroad  track.  He  intended  to  complete  the  orgie 
there,  and  then  to  return  to  camp.  Accordingly  it  hap- 
pened that,  when  afternoon  was  drawing  towards  a  close, 
he  sat  under  the  veranda  of  a  rickety  wooden  saloon, 
hurling  drowsy  encouragement  at  the  freighter  who  was 
loading  rock-boring  tools  into  a  big  wagon.  He  won- 
dered how  far  his  remaining  dollar  would  go  towards 
assuaging  a  thirst  which  steadily  increased,  and  two  men, 
who  leaned  against  the  wagon,  chuckled  as  they  watched 
him.  The  hands  of  one  of  the  men  were  busy  about  the 
brass  cap  which  decorated  the  hub  of  the  wheel,  but 
neither  Black  nor  the  teamster  noticed  this  fact.  Black 
had  seen  one  of  the  men  before,  for  the  two  had  loafed 
about  the  district,  ostensibly  prospecting  for  minerals,  and 
had  twice  visited  Thurston's  camp. 

It  was  a  pity  Black  had  absorbed  sufficient  alcohol  to 
confuse  his  memory,  for  when  the  men  strolled  towards 
him  he  might  have  recognized  the  one  whose  hat  was 
drawn  well  down.     As  it  was,  he  greeted  them  affably. 

"  Nice  weather  for  picnicking  in  the  woods.  Not  found 
that  galena  yet?  I  guess  somebody  in  the  city  is  paying 
)rou  by  the  week,"  he  observed  jocosely. 

"  That's  about  the  size  of  it !  "  The  speaker  laughed. 
"  But  we've  pretty  well  found  what  we  wanted,  and  we're 
pulling  out  with  the  Pacific  express.  There  don't  seem 
very  much  left  in  your  glass.  Anything  the  matter  with 
filling  it  up  with  me  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  proud,"  was  the  answer.  "  I'm  open  to 
drink  with  any  man  who'll  set  them  up  for  me."  When 
the  prospector  called  the  bar-tender,  Black  proceeded  to 
prove  his  willingness  to  be  "  treated." 

Nothing  moved  in  the  unpaved  street  of  the  sleepy 
settlement,  when  the  slow-footed  oxen  and  lurching  wagon 


196  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

had  lumbered  away.  The  sun  beat  down  upon  it  piti- 
lessly, and  the  drowsy  scent  of  cedars  mingled  with  the 
odors  of  baking  dust  which  eddied  in  little  spirals  and  got 
into  the  loungers'  throats.  The  bar-tender  was  liberal 
with  his  ice,  however,  and  Black  became  confidential. 
When  he  had  assured  them  of  his  undying  friendship,  one 
of  the  prospectors  asked : 

"  What's  a  smart  man  like  you  muling  rocks  around 
in  a  river-bed  for,  anyway?  Can't  you  strike  nothing 
better  down  to  the  cities  ?  " 

"  No,"  declared  Black,  thickly.  "  Couldn't  strike  a  job 
nohow  when  I  left  them.  British  Columbia  played  out — 
and  I  had  no  money  to  take  me  to  California." 

"  Well,"  said  the  prospector,  winking  at  his  comrade, 
"there  is  something  we  might  put  you  on  to.  The  first 
question  is,  what  kin  you  do  ?  " 

According  to  Black's  not  over-coherent  answer,  there 
was  little  he  could  not  do  excellently.  After  he  had 
enumerated  his  capabilities,  the  other  man  said: 

"  I  guess  that's  sufficient.  Come  right  back  with  us  to 
'Frisco  and  we'll  have  a  few  off  days  before  we  start  you. 
This  is  no  country  for  a  live  man,  anyway." 

Black  nodded  sagaciously  and  tried  hard  to  think.  He 
was  afraid  of  Thurston,  but  more  so  of  the  other  man 
connected  with  the  Enterprise  Company.  In  San  Fran- 
cisco he  would  be  beyond  the  reach  of  either,  and  the 
city  offered  many  delights  to  a  person  of  his  tastes  with 
somebody  else  willing  to  pay  expenses. 

"  I'll  come,"  he  promised  thickly.  "  So  long  as  you've 
got  the  dollars  I'll  go  right  round  the  earth  with  either 
of  you." 

'•<iood  man!"  commended  the  prospector.  "Bring 
along  another  jugful,  bar-tender." 

The  attendant  glanced  at  the  three  men  admiringly,  for 
the  speaker  was  plainly  sober,  and  lie  knew  how  much 
money  Black  had  paid  him.  He  went  hack  to  his  bottles, 
and  there  was  nobody  to  see  the  other  prospector,  who  had 


THE    ABDUCTION    OF   BLACK   CHRISTY     197 

kept  himself  in  the  background,  pour  something  from  a 
little  phial  beneath  his  hand,  into  Black's  liquor. 

"  Not  quite  so  good  as  last  one.  I  know  'Frisco. 
Great  time  at  China  Joe's,  you  an'  me,"  murmured  Black 
as  he  collapsed  with  his  head  upon  the  table.  He  was 
soon  snoring  heavily. 

"  Your  climate  has  been  too  much  for  him,"  one  of  the 
men  declared,  when  the  saloon-keeper  came  in.  "  Say, 
hadn't  you  better  help  us  heave  him  in  some  place  where 
he  can  sleep,  unless  you'd  prefer  to  keep  him  as  an  adver- 
tisement ?  " 

Black  was  stored  away  with  some  difficulty,  and  two 
hours  later  he  was  wheeled  on  a  baggage-truck  into  the 
station,  where  half  the  inhabitants  of  the  settlement  as- 
sembled to  see  him  off.  The  big  cars  were  already  clang- 
ing down  the  track,  when  a  tall  man  riding  a  lathered 
horse  appeared  among  the  scattered  pines  on  the  shoulder 
of  the  hill  above  the  settlement.     A  bystander  commented : 

"  Thurston's  foreman  coming  round  for  some  of  his 
packages.  As  usual  he's  in  an  almighty  hurry.  That 
place  is  'most  as  steep  as  a  roof,  and  he's  coming  down  it 
at  a  gallop." 

The  prospectors  glanced  at  each  other,  and  one  of  them 
said,  "  Lend  me  a  hand,  somebody,  to  heave  our  sick 
partner  aboard." 

Black  was  unceremoniously  deposited  upon  the  plat- 
form of  the  nearest  car,  where  he  sat  blinking  vacantly  at 
the  assembly,  while  the  conductor,  leaning  out  from  the 
door  of  the  baggage-car,  looked  back  towards  the  rider 
who  was  clattering  through  a  dust  cloud  down  the  street, 
as  he  asked:  ''Anybody  else  besides  the  tired  man?  Is 
that  fellow  yonder  coming  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  the  prospector.  "  He's  only  wanting 
one  of  those  cases  you've  just  dumped  out.  Likes  to 
fancy  his  time's  precious.     I  know  him." 

The  conductor  waved  his  band,  the  big  bell  clanged,  and 
the  train  had  just  rolled  with  a  rattle  over  a  trestle  ahead, 


198   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

when  Mattawa  Tom,  grimed  with  thick  red  dust,  flung 
himself  down  beside  the  agent's  office. 

"  Has  a  dark-faced  thief  in  a  plug  hat  with  two  holes 
in  the  top  of  it,  gone  out  on  the  cars  ?  "  he  shouted,  and 
the  spectators  admitted  that  such  a  person  boarded  the 
train. 

"  Why  didn't  you  come  in  two  minutes  earlier,  Tom  ?  " 
one  of  them  inquired.  "He  lit  out  with  two  strangers. 
Has  he  been  stealing  something  ?  " 

"  He's  been  doing  worse,  and  I'd  have  been  in  on  time, 
but  that  I  stopped  ten  minutes  to  help  freighter  Louis  cut 
loose  the  two  live  oxen  left  him,"  said  the  foreman,  breath- 
lessly. "  One  wheel  came  off  his  wagon  going  down  the 
Clearwater  Trail,  and  the  whole  blame  outfit  pitched  over 
into  a  ravine.  There's  several  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  our  boring  machines  smashed  up,  and  Louis,  who  has 
pretty  well  split  his  head,  is  cussing  the  man  who  took 
the  cotter  out  of  his  wheel  hub." 

The  two  prospectors  were  heartily  tired  of  their  charge 
by  the  time  they  passed  him  off  as  the  sick  employe  of 
an  American  firm,  at  the  nearest  station  to  the  Washing- 
ton border.  When  BVack  showed  signs  of  waking  up  he 
was  soothed  with  medicated  liquor,  and  his  guardians,  who 
several  times  had  high  words  with  the  conductor,  at  last 
unloaded  him  in  a  station  hewn  out  of  the  forests  encir- 
cling Puget  Sound,  where  they  managed  to  hoist  him  into 
a  spring  wagon.  Black  leaned  against  one  of  the  men,  for 
he  was  feeling  distressfully  ill.  His  head  throbbed,  his 
vision  was  hazy  and  his  throat  was  dry.  Blinking  down 
at  the  rows  of  wooden  houses  among  the  firs,  and  the 
tall  spars  of  vessels  behind  them,  he  said :  "  This  isn't 
'Frisco — not  half  big  enough.  Somebody  made  mistake 
somewhere.  Say!  Lemme  out;  I'm  going  back  to  the 
depot." 

"  You're  coming  along  with  us,"  was  the  decided  an- 
swer.    "  Sit  down  at  once  before  we  make  you." 

Black  slowly  doubled   up   a  still  formidable  fist,  and 


THE    ABDUCTION   OF   BLACK   CHRISTY     199 

grasping  a  rail,  lurched  to  and  fro  unsteadily.  "  Lemme 
out  'fore  I  kill  somebody.  Claim  rightsh  of  British 
citizensh/'  he  said. 

"  You'll  get  them  if  you're  not  careful,"  was  the  threat, 
and  the  speaker  jerked  Black's  feet  from  under  him.  "  I 
was  told  to  remind  you  if  you  made  trouble  that  a  sheriff 
on  this  side  of  the  frontier  had  some  papers  describing 
you.     There's  one  or  two  patrolmen  yonder  handy." 

"  It  was  an  accident,"  temporized  Black,  endeavoring 
to  pull  his  scattered  wits  together. 

"  Juss  so ! "  was  the  answer,  given  with  a  gesture  of  in- 
difference. "  I  was  only  told  a  name  for  the  patrolmen, 
and  to  remind  you  that  a  man,  who  knows  all  about  it, 
has  got  his  eye  on  you." 

Black  leered  upon  him  with  drunken  cunning,  then  his 
face  grew  stolid,  and  he  said  nothing  further  until  the 
wagon  drew  up  in  a  b}'-street,  before  a  door,  hung  across 
with  quaint  signboards  of  Chinese  characters.  The  door 
opened  and  closed  behind  him  when  his  companions 
knocked,  and  Black,  who  recognized  a  curious  sour  smell, 
choked  out,  "  Gimme  long  drink  of  ice  watah ! " 

He  drained  the  cool  draught  that  was  brought  him,  then 
flinging  himself  on  a  pile  of  matting  in  a  corner  of  a  dim 
room,  sank  forthwith  into  slumber.  He  had  intended  to 
pretend  to  sleep,  but  to  lie  awake  and  think.  His  cus- 
todians, however,  had  arranged  things  differently,  and 
Black's  wits  were  not  working  up  to  their  usual  power. 

Whenever  railroad  extension  or  mining  enterprise  pro- 
vided high  wages  for  all  strong  enough  to  earn  them  and 
crews  deserted  wholesale,  seamen  were  occasionally  shipped 
in  a  very  irregular  fashion  from  the  ports  of  the  Pacific 
slope.  At  the  time  Black  was  brought  into  one  of  the 
seaboard  cities,  the  purveying  of  drugged  and  kidnaped 
mariners  had  risen  to  be  almost  a  recognized  profession. 

It  accordingly  happened  that  when  the  unfortunate 
Black  first  became  clearly  conscious  of  anything  again,  he 
heard  the  gurgle  of  sliding  water  close  beside  his  head, 


200   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

and,  opening  his  eyes,  caught  sight  of  a  smoky  lamp  that 
reeled  to  and  fro,  in  very  erratic  fashion.  Moisture 
dripped  from  the  beams  above  him,  and  there  was  a  sickly 
smell  which  seemed  familiar.  Black,  who  had  been  to 
sea  before,  decided  that  he  caught  the  aroma  of  bilge  water. 
Rows  of  wooden  shelves  tenanted  by  recumbent  figures, 
became  discernible,  and  he  started  with  dismay  to  the  full 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  he  was  in  a  vessel's  forecastle. 

Somebody  or  something  was  pounding  upon  the  scuttle 
overhead.  A  black  gap  opened  above  him,  a  rush  of  cold 
night  wind  swept  down,  followed  by  a  gruff  order : 

"  Turn  out,  watch  below,  and  help  get  sail  upon  her. 
Stir  round  before  I  put  a  move  on  to  you !  " 

Men  scrambled  from  the  wooden  shelves  growling  as 
they  did  so.  Two  lost  their  balance  on  the  heaving  floor, 
went  down  headlong,  and  lay  where  they  fell.  When  a 
man  in  long  boots  floundered  down  the  ladder,  Black  sat 
up  in  his  bunk. 

"  Now  there's  going  to  be  trouble.  Some  blame  rascals 
have  run  me  off  aboard  a  dumber  ship,"  he  said. 

"  Correct ! "  observed  a  man  who  was  struggling  into 
an  oilskin  jacket.  "  You're  blame  well  shanghaied  like 
the  rest  of  us,  and  as  the  mate's  a  rustler,  you've  got  to 
make  the  best  of  it." 

"Hello!  What's  11k-  matter  with  you?  Not  feeling 
spry  this  morning,  or  is  it  hot  water  you're  waiting  for?" 
the  male  said,  jerking  Black  out  of  his  bunk  as  he  spoke. 
'"<;reat  Columbus!  What  kind  of  a  stiff  do  you  call 
yourself?     Up  you  go!" 

J'. lack  went,  with  all  the  expedition  he  was  capable  of, 
and,  blundering  out  through  the  scuttle,  stood  shivering 
on  a  slant  of  wet  and  slippery  deck.  A  brief  survey 
showed  him  that  he  was  on  board  a  full-rigged  ship,  tim- 
ber laden,  about  to  be  cast  off  by  a  tug.  There  was  a  fresh 
breeze  abeam.  Looking  forward  he  could  see  dark  figures 
hanging  from  the  high-pointed  bowsprit  that  rose  and 
dipped,   and   beyond   them   the   lights   of  a  tug   reeling 


THE    ABDUCTION    OF    BLACK   CHRISTY     201 

athwart  a  strip  of  white-streaked  sea.  Mountains  dimly 
discernible  towered  in  the  distance,  and  he  fancied  it  was 
a  little  before  daybreak.  Bursts  of  spray  came  hurtling 
in  through  the  foremast  shrouds,  and  the  whine  and 
rattle  of  running  wire  and  chain  fell  from  the  windy 
blackness  overhead  whence  the  banging  of  loosened  canvas 
came  to  his  ears.  Glancing  aloft  he  watched  the  great 
arches  of  the  half-sheeted  topsails  swell  blackly  out  and 
then  collapse  again  with  a  thunderous  flap.  Somebody 
was  shouting  from  the  slanted  top-gallant-yard  that  swung 
in  a  wide  arc  above  them,  but  Black  had  no  time  for 
further  inspection. 

"  Lay  aloft  and  loose  maintopsails !  Are  you  figuring 
we  brought  you  here  to  admire  the  scenery?"  a  hoarse 
voice  challenged. 

Half-dazed  and  sullenly  savage  Black  had  still  sense 
enough  to  reflect  that  it  would  be  little  use  to  expect  that 
the  harassed  mate  would  listen  to  reason  then.  Clawing 
his  way  up  the  ratlines  he  laid  his  chest  upon  the  main- 
topsail-yard  and  worked  his  way  out  to  the  lower  end  of 
the  long  inclined  spar.  Here,  still  faint  and  dizzy,  he 
hung  with  the  footrope  jammed  against  his  heel,  as  he  felt 
for  the  gasket  that  held  the  canvas  to  the  yard.  Swing- 
ing through  the  blackness  across  a  space  of  tumbling  foam 
he  felt  a  horrible  unsteadiness.  There  were  other  men 
behind  him,  for  he  could  hear  them  swearing  and  cough- 
ing until  a  black  wall  of  banging  canvas  sank  beneath 
him  when  somebody  roared :     "  Sheet  her  home !  " 

Then  a  hail  came  down  across  the  waters  from  the  tug. 
There  was  a  loud  splash  beneath  the  bows,  while  shadowy 
figures  that  howled  a  weird  ditty  as  they  hove  the  hawser 
in,  rose  and  fell  black  against  the  foam-flecked  sea  on  the 
dripping  forecastle.  Nobody  had  missed  Black,  who  now 
sat  astride  the  yard  watching  the  tug,  as  the  ship,  listing 
over  further  and  commencing  to  hurl  the  spray  in  clouds 
about  her  plunging  bows,  gathered  way.  The  steamboat 
would  slide  past  very  close  alongside,  and  he  saw  a  last 


202   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

chance  of  escape.  Moving  out  to  the  very  yard-arm  he 
clutched  the  lee-brace,  which  rope  led  diagonally  down- 
wards to  the  vessel's  depressed  rail.  He  looked  below  a 
moment,  bracing  himself  for  the  perilous  attempt. 

The  tug  was  close  abreast  of  the  ship's  forecastle  now, 
evidently  waiting  with  engines  stopped  until  the  vessel 
should  pass  her.  The  crew  was  still  heaving  in  the  cable 
or  loosing  the  top-gallants,  and  froth  boiled  almost  level 
with  the  depressed  rail.  Black  was  a  poor  swimmer,  but 
he  could  keep  his  head  above  water  for  a  considerable  time. 
If  the  tug  did  not  start  her  engines  within  the  next  few 
seconds  she  must  drive  close  down  on  him.  Otherwise — 
but  filled  with  the  hope  of  escape  and  the  lust  for  revenge 
Black  was  willing  to  take  the  risk. 

He  hooked  one  knee  around  the  brace,  gripped  it  be- 
tween his  ankles  and  slackened  the  grip  of  his  hands. 
The  topsails  slid  away  from  him,  the  spray  rushed  up 
below,  his  feet  struck  the  rail,  and  the  next  moment  he 
was  down  in  utter  blackness  and  conscious  of  a  shock  of 
icy  cold  water.  He  rose  gasping  and  swung  around, 
buffeted  in  the  vessel's  eddying  wake.  There  was.  no 
shouting  on  board  her,  and,  with  a  choking  cry,  he  struck 
out  for  the  black  shape  of  the  tug,  now  only  a  short  dis- 
tance away.  Somebody  heard  and  flung  down  a  line.  He 
clutched  at  it  and,  by  good  fortune,  grasped  it.  Head 
downward  he  was  drawn  on  board  by  the  aid  of  a  long 
boathook,  and  hauled,  dripping,  before  the  skipper. 

"  Did  you  fall  or  jump  in  ?  "  asked  the  skipper. 

"  I  jumped,"  confessed  Black,  putting  a  bold  face  on  it, 
and  the  master  of  the  towboat  laughed. 

"  Shanghaied,  I  guess !  "  he  said.  "  Well,  I  don't  blame 
you  for  showing  your  grit.  The  master  of  that  lumber 
wagon  is  a  blame  avaricious  insect !  lie  beat  us  down  un- 
til all  we  got  out  of  him  will  hardly  pay  for  the  coal  we 
used — that's  what  he  did.  So  if  you  slip  ashore  quietly 
when  we  tie  up,  he'll  think  you  pitched  over  making  sail, 
and  I'll  keep  my  mouth  shut." 


THE    ABDUCTION   OF   BLACK   CHRISTY     203 

Accordingly  it  happened  that  next  morning  Black,  who 
had  left  the  wooden  city  before  daylight  to  tramp  back  to 
the  bush,  sat  down  to  consider  his  next  move. 

"  There's  one  thing  tolerably  certain,  Black  Christy's 
drowned,  and  he'll  just  stop  drowned  until  it  suits  him," 
he  decided.  "  Next,  though  he's  not  over  fond  of  it, 
there's  lots  of  work  for  a  good  carpenter  in  this  country 
and  newspapers  are  cheap.  So  when  it's  worth  his  while 
to  strike  in  with  the  Thurston  Company  and  get  even 
with  the  other  side  he'll  probably  hear  of  it." 

He  laughed  a  little  as  he  once  more  read  the  message 
on  a  strip  of  pulpy  paper  somebody  had  slipped  into  his 
pocket. 

"  You  are  going  to  China  for  your  health,  and  you  had 
better  stop  there  if  you  want  to  keep  clear  of  trouble." 

Black  Christy  got  upon  his  feet  again  and  departed 
into  the  bush,  where  he  wandered  for  several  weeks, 
building  fences  and  splitting  shingles  for  the  ranchers  in 
return  for  food  and  shelter,  until  he  found  work  and 
wages  at  a  saw-mill. 

Shortly  after  he  was  employed  at  the  mill,  the  director 
who  held  Leslie's  receipt  sat  in  his  handsome  offices  with 
the  Englishman.  A  newspaper  lay  open  on  the  table  be- 
fore him,  and  the  director  smiled  as  he  read,  "  Ship, 
Maria  Carmony,  timber  laden  for  China,  meeting  con- 
tinuous headwinds  after  sailing  from  this  port,  put  into 
Cosechas,  Cal.,  for  shelter,  and  her  master  reported  the 
loss  of  a  seaman  when  making  sail  in  the  Straits  of  San 
Juan.  The  man's  name  was  T.  Slater,  and  must  have 
been  a  stranger,  as  nobody  appears  to  have  known  him 
in  this  city." 

"  Those  fellows  haven't  managed  it  badly,"  he  com- 
mented.    "Anyway,  there's  an  end  of  him." 

"  They  told  me  they  had  some  trouble  over  it,  and  I 
gave  theni  fifty  dollars  extra,"  said  Leslie.     "  They  used 


204  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

the  hint  you  mentioned — said  it  worked  well.  But  the 
two  men  are  always  likely  to  turn  up,  unfortunately." 

"  It  wouldn't  count,"  the  other  answered  confidently. 
"  You  will  have  to  bluff  them  off  if  they  do.  Deny  the 
whole  thing — nobody  would  believe  them — it's  quite  easy. 
It  would  have  been  different  with  that  confounded  Black, 
for  he  would  have  had  Thurston's  testimony.  The  joke  of 
the  whole  thing  is,  that  although  he  knew  I  held  evidence 
which  would  likely  hang  him  with  a  jury  of  miners,  it's 
tolerably  certain  Black  never  did  the  thing  he  was  wanted 
for." 

Thus,  the  two  parties  interested  remained  contented, 
and  only  Thurston  was  left  bewildered  and  furious  at  the 
loss  of  a  witness  who  might  be  valuable  to  him.  More- 
over, the  destruction  of  machinery  which,  having  been 
made  specially  for  Thurston,  in  England,  could  not  be 
replaced  for  months.  And  not  once  did  it  ever  occur  to 
his  subordinate,  English  Jim,  that  he  himself  had  fur- 
nished the  clue  which  led  to  the  abduction  of  the  missing 
man. 


CHAPTEK   XX 

UNDER    THE    STANLEY    PINES 

It  was  a  pleasant  afternoon  when  Millicent  Leslie  stood 
in  the  portico  of  her  villa,  which  looked  upon  the  inlet 
from  a  sunny  ridge  just  outside  Vancouver.  Like  the 
other  residences  scattered  about,  the  dwelling  quaintly 
suggested  a  doll's  house — it  was  so  diminutively  pretty 
with  its  carved  veranda,  bright  green  lattices,  and  spot- 
less white  paint  picked  out  with  shades  of  paler  green 
and  yellow.  Flowers  filled  tiny  borders,  and  behind  the 
house  small  firs,  spared  by  the  ax,  stood  rigid  and  somber. 
With  clear  sunshine  beating  upon  it  and  the  blue  waters 
sparkling  close  below,  the  tiny  villa  was  so  daintily  at- 
tractive that  one  might  almost  suppose  its  inhabitants 
could  carry  neither  care  nor  evil  humor  across  its  thresh- 
old, but  there  was  disgust  and  weariness  in  Millicent's 
eyes  as  she  glanced  from  the  little  pony-carriage  waiting 
at  the  gate  to  her  husband  leaning  against  a  pillar. 

Leslie  was  evidently  in  a  complacent  frame  of  mind,  and 
he  did  not  notice  his  wife's  expression.  There  was  a 
smile  upon  his  puffy  face  which  suggested  pride  of  pos- 
session. It  was  justifiable,  for  Mrs.  Leslie  was  still  a 
distinctly  handsome  woman,  and  she  knew  how  to  dress 
herself. 

"  You  will  meet  very  few  women  who  excel  you,  and 
the  team  is  unique,"  he  remarked  exultantly.  "  Drive 
around  by  some  of  the  big  stores  and  let  folks  see  you 
before  you  turn  into  the  park.  Since  that  affair  of  Thurs- 
ton's I  am  almost  beginning  to  grow  proud  of  you." 

1  Isn't  it  somewhat  late  in  the  day  ?  "  was  the  answer, 
and  Millicent's  tone  was  chilly.  "  If  you  had  wished  to 
pay  me  a  compliment  that  was  not  intended  ironically,  it 

205 


206  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

would  have  been  wiser  to  omit  all  reference  to  the  sub- 
ject you  mentioned.  It  is  done  now — and  heaven  knows 
why  I  told  you — but  I  can't  thank  you  for  reminding  me 
of  a  deed  I  am  ashamed  of.  Further,  I  understood  the 
ponies  were  for  my  pleasure,  and  I  have  stooped  far 
enough  in  your  interest  without  displaying  myself  as  an 
advertisement  of  a  prosperity  which  does  not  exist." 

Leslie  laughed  unpleasantly,  noticing  the  flash  in  the 
speaker's  eyes  before  he  rejoined :  "  Perhaps  it  is  tardy 
praise  I  give  you,  but  regardiag  your  last  remark,  to  pre- 
tend you  have  achieved  prosperity  is,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
the  one  way  to  attain  it,  and  I  have  a  promising  scheme  in 
view.  It  is  not  a  particularly  pleasant  part  to  play,  and 
there  was  a  time  when  it  appeared  very  improbable  that 
either  of  us  would  be  forced,  as  you  say,  to  stoop  to  it. 
Neither  was  it  my  ambition  which  brought  about  the  ne- 
cessity. As  to  the  ponies — I  had  fancied  they  might  do 
their  part,  too,  but  they  are  a  reward  for  services  rendered 
in  finding  me  a  clue  to  the  missing-man  mystery.  Nobody 
need  know  that  they're  not  quite  our  own.  Now  you 
have  got  them,  isn't  it  slightly  unfair  to  blame  me  be- 
cause you  were  willing  to  earn  them?  " 

"  I  suppose  so,"  admitted  Millicent.  "  Still,  I  can't 
help  remarking  that  you  take  the  man's  usual  part  of 
blaming  the  woman  for  whatever  happens.  To-day  I 
will  not  drive  through  the  citv,  but  straight  into  the 
park." 

Leslie  said  nothing  further,  but  followed  his  wife  to 
the  gate.  On  his  way  to  his  office,  he  turned  and  looked 
after  her  with  a  frown  as  she  rattled  her  team  along  the 
uneven  road.  She  was  a  vain  and  covetous  woman  with 
a  bias  towards  intrigue,  but  there  had  been  times  since 
her  marriage  when  she  despised  herself,  and  as  a  natural 
consequence  blamed  her  husband.  Sometimes  she  haled 
Thurston,  also,  though  more  often  she  was  sensible  of 
vague  regrets,  and  grew  morbid  thinking  of  what  might 
have  been.     Now  she  flushed  a  little  as  she  glanced  at 


UNDER    THE    STANLEY    PINES         207 

the  ponies  and  remembered  that  they  were  the  price  of 
treachery.  The  animals  were  innocent,  but  she  found  sat- 
isfaction in  making  them  feel  the  sting  of  the  whip. 

She  looked  back  at  the  city. 

It  rose  in  terraces  above  the  broad  inlet — a  maze  of 
wooden  buildings,  giving  place  to  stone.  Over  its  streets 
hung  a  wire  network,  raised  high  on  lofty  poles,  which 
would  have  destroyed  the  beauty  of  a  much  fairer  city. 
Back  of  the  city  rose  the  somber  forest  over  which  at  in- 
tervals towered  the  blasted  skeleton  of  some  gigantic  pine. 

Millicent  felt  that  she  detested  both  the  city,  with  its 
crude  mingling  of  primitive  simplicity  and  Western 
luxury,  and  the  life  she  lived  in  it.  It  was  a  life  of  pre- 
tense and  struggle,  in  which  she  suffered  bitter  mortifica- 
tions daily.  Presently  she  reined  the  team  in  to  a  walk 
as  she  drove  under  the  cool  shade  of  the  primeval  forest 
which,  with  a  wisdom  not  common  in  the  West,  the  in- 
habitants of  Vancouver  have  left  unspoiled  as  Nature. 
A  few  drives  have  been  cut  through  the  trees  and  be- 
tween the  long  rows  of  giant  trunks  she  could  catch  at 
intervals  the  silver  shimmer  of  the  Straits.  In  this  park 
there  was  only  restful  shadow.  Its  silence  was  intensified 
by  the  soft  thud  of  hoofs.  A  dim  perspective  of  tremen- 
dous trees  whose  great  branches  interlocked,  forming  arches 
for  the  roof  of  somber  green  very  far  above,  lured  her  on. 

Millicent  felt  the  spell  of  the  silence  and  sighed  re- 
membering how  the  lover  whom  she  had  discarded  once 
pleaded  that  she  would  help  him  in  a  life  of  healthful 
labor.  She  regretted  that  she  had  not  consented  to  flee 
with  him  to  the  new  country.  Now  she  was  tied  to  a 
man  she  despised,  and  who  had  put  her,  so  she  considered, 
to  open  shame.  She  could  not  help  comparing  his  weak, 
greedy,  yet  venomous  nature,  with  the  other's  courage, 
clean  purpose  and  transparent  honesty. 

"  I  was  a  fool,  ten  times  a  fool ;  but  it  is  too  late,"  she 
told  herself,  and  then  tightening  her  grip  on  the  reins  she 
started  with  surprise.     The  man  to  whom  her  thoughts 


208   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

had  strayed  was  leaning  against  a  hemlock  with  his  eyes 
fixed  on  her  face.  It  was  the  first  time  they  had  met  since 
she  played  the  part  of  Delilah,  and,  in  spite  of  her  cus- 
tomary self-command,  Millicent  betrayed  her  agitation. 
A  softer  mood  was  upon  her  and  she  had  the  grace  to  be 
ashamed.  Still,  it  appeared  desirable  to  discover  whether 
he  suspected  her. 

"  I  was  quite  startled  to  see  you,  Geoffrey,  but  I  am  very 
glad.  It  is  almost  too  hot  for  walking.  Won't  you  let 
me  drive  you  ?  "  she  said  with  flurried  haste. 

If  Geoffrey  hesitated  Millicent  noticed  no  sign  of  it 
beyond  that  he  was  slow  in  answering.  He  was  conscious 
that  Mrs.  Leslie  looked  just  then  a  singularly  attractive 
companion,  but  she  was  the  wife  of  another  man,  and,  of 
late,  he  had  felt  a  vague  alarm  at  the  confidences  she 
seemed  inclined  to  exchange  with  him.  Nevertheless,  he 
could  find  no  excuse  at  the  moment  which  would  not  sug- 
gest a  desire  to  avoid  her,  and  with  a  word  of  thanks  he 
took  his  place  at  her  side. 

"  I  came  down  to  consult  my  friend,  Mr.  Thomas 
Savine,  on  business,"  he  explained.  "  I  had  one  or  two 
other  matters  to  attend  to,  and  promised  to  overtake  him 
and  his  wife  during  their  stroll.  I  must  have  missed 
them.  What  a  prettv  team !  Have  you  had  the  ponies 
long?" 

^lillieent's  well-gloved  fingers  closed  somewhat  viciously 
upon  the  whip,  for  the  casual  question  was  unfortunate, 
but  she  smiled  as  she  answered  and  she  cbatted  gayly 
until,  in  an  interlude,  Thurston  felt  prompted  to  say: 

"Coincidences  are  sometimes  striking,  are  they  not? 
You  remember,  the  last  time  we  met,  suggesting  that  I 
was  fortunate  in  having  no  enemies  among  the  moun- 
tains?" 

"  Yes,"  she  replied,  shrinking  a  little,  "  I  do — but  do 
you  know  that  it  makes  one  sbiver  to  talk  about  glaciers 
and  snow  on  such  a  perfect  day." 

A  man  of  keener  perceptions,  reading  the  speaker's  face, 


UNDER    THE    STANLEY    PINES        209 

would  have  changed  the  subject  at  once,  and  Millicent 
had  earned  his  tactful  consideration.  It  was  a  good  im- 
pulse which  prompted  her  to  place  herself  beyond  the 
reach  of  further  temptation.  Geoffrey,  however,  was  un- 
observant that  afternoon. 

"I  am  certainly  tired  of  glaciers  and  snow  and  other 
unpleasant  things  myself,  and  was  merely  going  to  say 
that,  shortly  after  I  last  talked  with  you,  I  discovered 
another  instance  of  an  unknown  enemy's  ingenuity,"  he 
went  on.  "  A  wagon  we  had  chartered  upset  down  a 
steep  ravine,  and  several  costly  pieces  of  machinery  I  had 
brought  out  from  England,  and  can  hardly  replace,  were 
smashed  to  pieces." 

"  Ah !  "  responded  Millicent,  staring  straight  before  her. 
"What  a  pity!  Still  accidents  of  that  description  must 
be  fairly  common  where  the  mountain  roads  are 
bad?" 

"  They  are ;  but  this  was  not  an  accident.  We  found 
that  somebody  had  pulled  out  the  cotter  or  iron  pin  which 
held  the  wagon  wheel  on." 

"  Did  any  of  your  own  men  do  it  ?  "  Millicent  inquired, 
concealing  her  eagerness,  and  Thurston  answered  with 
pride  in  his  tone : 

"  My  own  men  risk  their  lives  almost  every  day  in  my 
service.  There  is  not  one  among  them  capable  of  treach- 
ery— now.  We  made  tolerably  certain  it  was  the  work  of 
two  strangers,  who  hung  about  the  neighboring  settlement 
and  disappeared  immediately  after  the  accident." 

Millicent's  eyes  flashed,  her  white  teeth  were  set  to- 
gether, and,  rilled  with  hot  indignation  against  her  hus- 
band, she  lashed  the  ponies  viciously.  There  were  sev- 
eral reasons  for  what  she  had  done,  including  a  dislike 
to  Miss  Savine,  but  perhaps  the  greatest  was  the  sordid 
fear  of  poverty.  Now  she  saw  that  her  husband  had 
tricked  her.  She  had  stooped  to  save  his  position  and  not 
to  enable  him  to  work  further  injury  for  Thurston.  The 
innocent  ponies  were  Leslie's  gift,  and  the  smart  of  the 


210     THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD   VALLEY 

lash  she  drew  across  their  sleek  backs  appeared  vicarious 
punishment. 

"  Have  I  displeased  you  ?  "  Geoffrey  asked. 

"No,"  replied  Millicent.  "Displeased  me!  How 
could  I  resent  anything  you  might  either  say  or  do? 
Have  I  not  heaped  injury  upon  you?" 

She  turned  to  gaze  straight  at  him  with  a  curious  glitter 
in  her  eyes.  Thurston,  bewildered  by  it  and  by  the  traces 
of  ill-suppressed  passion  in  her  voice,  grew  distinctly  un- 
easy. He  was  glad  that  one  of  the  ponies  showed  signs 
of  growing  restive  under  its  punishment. 

"  Steady,  Millicent !  They're  a  handsome  pair,  but  not 
far  off  bolting,  and  there's  no  parapet  to  yonder  bridge," 
he  cautioned. 

In  place  of  an  answer  the  woman  again  flicked  one  of 
the  beasts  viciously  with  the  whip,  and,  next  moment, 
the  light  vehicle  lurched  forward  with  a  whir  of  gravel 
hurled  up  by  the  wheels.  The  team  had  certainly  shied, 
and  the  road  curved  sharply  to  the  unguarded  bridge  over 
a  little  creek. 

"This  is  my  business,"  declared  Geoffrey,  wrenching 
the  reins  from  her  grasp.  "  Sit  well  back,  throw  the  whip 
down  and  clutch  the  rail  fast."  Then  he  stood  upright 
grasping  the  lines  in  his  hard  hands.  It  was,  however, 
evident  that  he  could  not  steer  the  ponies  around  the 
bend,  and  the  fall  to  the  rocks  beneath  the  bridge  might 
mean  death. 

"  Hold  fast  for  your  life,"  he  shouted,  and  let  the  team 
mn  straight  on.  There  was  a  heavy  shock  as  the  light 
wheels  struck  a  fallen  branch  on  leaving  the  graded  road. 
The  vehicle  lurched,  and  Millicent,  whose  eyes  were  wide 
with  terror,  screamed  faintly.  Geoffrey  still  stood  up- 
right driving  the  team  straight  ahead  down  a  more  open 
glade  of  the  forest.  He  knew  that  the  stems  of  the  fern 
and  the  soft  ground  beneath  would  soon  bring  them  to  a 
itandfltill  if  they  did  not  strike  a  tree-trunk  first. 

The  going  was  heavy,  and  with  a  plunge  or  two,  the 


UNDER    THE    STANLEY    PINES        211 

ponies  stopped  on  the  edge  of  a  thicket.  Geoffrey,  alight- 
ing, soothed  the  trembling  creatures  with  some  difficulty, 
led  them  back  to  the  road,  and,  taking  his  place  again, 
turned  towards  Millicent.  It  appeared  necessary  that  he 
should  soothe  her,  too,  for,  though  generally  a  self-pos- 
sessed person,  the  emotions  of  the  last  few  minutes  had 
proved  too  much  for  her.  She  had  suffered  from  remorse, 
disgust  with  herself,  rage  against  her  husband,  and  to 
these  there  had  also  been  added  the  fear  of  sudden 
death. 

"It  ended  better  than  it  might  have  done,"  said 
Geoffrey,  awkwardly.  "Very  sorry,  but  you  must  really 
be  careful  in  using  the  whip  to  the  ponies.  Shall  I  get 
down  and  bring  you  some  water,  Millicent?  You  look 
faint.     The  fright  has  made  you  ill." 

"  No,"  Mjllicent  denied.  "  I  am  not  ill ;  only  startled 
a  little — and  very  grateful."  Instinctively,  she  moved  a 
little  nearer  him  when  Geoffrey  handed  her  the  reins 
again.  He  bent  his  head  and  smiled  reassuringly.  Milli- 
cent was  white  in  the  face,  and  shivered  a  little — she  was 
also  very  pretty,  and  it  would  have  been  unkind  not  to  try 
to  comfort  her.  Whether  it  was  love  of  power,  dislike  to 
her  husband,  or  perhaps  something  more  than  this,  even 
the  woman  was  not  then  sure,  but  she  took  full  advantage 
of  the  position,  and  the  ponies  walked  undirected,  while 
Geoffrey  essayed  to  chase  away  her  fears.  He  bent  his 
head  lower  towards  her,  and  Millicent  smiled  at  him  with 
apparently  shy  gratitude. 

Lifting  his  eyes  a  moment,  Geoffrey  set  his  teeth  as  he 
met  the  coldly  indifferent  gaze  of  Helen,  who  came  to- 
wards them  in  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Sa- 
vine.  Millicent  also  saw  the  three  Savines,  and,  either 
tempted  by  jealousy  of  the  girl  or  by  mere  vanity,  man- 
aged to  convey  a  subtle  expression  of  triumph  in  her  smile 
of  greeting.  Possibly  neither  Thomas  Savine  nor  Geoffrey 
would  have  understood  the  meaning  of  the  smile  had  they 
seen  it,  but  Helen  read  it,  and  it  was  with  the  very  faintest 


212   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

bend  of  her  head  that  she  acknowledged  Thurston's  salu« 
tation. 

Geoffrey  was  silent  after  they  had  driven  by,  but  Milli- 
cent,  who  seemed  to  recover  her  spirits,  chatted  gayly  and 
even  said  flattering  things  of  Miss  Savine. 

Meantime  Helen  felt  confused,  hurt  and  angry.  It  was 
true  that  she  had  rejected  Thurston's  suit,  but  she  had 
found  his  loyalty  pleasant,  and  had  believed  implicitly  in 
his  rectitude.  Now  a  hot  color  rose  to  her  temples  as 
she  remembered  that  it  was  the  second  time  she  had  seen 
him  under  circumstances  which  suggested  that  he  had 
transferred  the  homage  offered  her  to  a  married  woman. 
She  felt  the  insult  as  keenly  as  if  he  had  struck  her.  The 
Dominion  had  not  progressed  so  far  in  one  direction  as 
the  great  republic  to  the  south  of  it,  neither  are  friend- 
ships or  flirtations  of  the  kind  looked  upon  as  leniently  as 
they  are  in  tropical  colonies,  and  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
the  Puritan  in  Helen  Savine. 

"Well,  I'm— just  rattled.  That's  Mrs.  Leslie!"  re- 
marked Thomas  Savine.  "  Thurston  goes  straight  and 
steady,  but  what  in  the  name  of " 

Mrs.  Savine,  whose  one  weakness  was  medicine,  flashed 
a  warning  glance  at  him,  and  hastened  to  answer,  perhaps 
for  the  benefit  of  Helen  who  came  up  just  then. 

"  There  is  not  a  straighter  man  in  the  Dominion,  and 
one  could  stake  their  last  cent  on  the  honor  of  Geoffrey 
Thurston,"  she  declared.  "From  several  things  I've 
heard,  I've  settled  that's  just  a  dangerous  woman." 

Helen  heard,  and,  knowing  her  friendship  for  the  young 
engineer,  guessed  her  aunt's  motive.  The  explanation,  in 
any  case,  would  not  have  improved  the  position  much,  for 
if  the  woman  were  utterly  unprincipled,  which  she  could 
well  believe,  why  should  the  man  who  had,  of  his  own 
will,  pledged  himself  to  her? — but  she  flushed  again  as 
»■ :  it  fused  to  follow  that  line  of  thought  further.  Never- 
theless, she  clenched  a  little  hand  in  a  manner  that  boded 
ill  for  Thurston  when  next  he  sought  speech  with  her. 


UNDER    THE    STANLEY    PINES        213 

Afterwards  she  endeavored  to  treat  the  incident  with  com- 
plete indifference,  and  succeeded  in  deceiving  her  uncle 
onlv,  for  in  spite  of  her  efforts,  her  face  and  carriage  ex- 
pressed outraged  dignity.  Her  aunt  was  not  in  the  least 
deceived,  and  her  eyes  twinkled  now  and  then  as  she 
chattered  on  diverse  topics,  while  the  party  drove  leisurely 
towards  the  city. 

When  Leslie  returned  home  from  his  office  he  found  his 
wife  awaiting  him  with  the  disdainful  look  upon  her  face 
which  he  had  learned  to  hate. 

"  What's  the  matter  now,  Millicent  ?  Has  something 
upset  your  usually  pacific  temper  ?  "  he  asked  with  a  sneer. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  direct  answer.  "  When  you  last  asked 
my  assistance  you,  as  usual,  lied  to  me.  I  helped  you  to 
trace  your — your  confederate,  because  you  told  me  it  was 
the  only  way  to  escape  ruin.  For  once  I  believed  you, 
which  was  blindly  foolish  of  me.  I  met  Mr.  Thurston  and 
learned  from  him  how  somebody  had  plotted  to  destroy 
his  machinery.  He  did  not  know  it  was  you,  and  I  very 
nearly  told  him." 

"  Don't  be  a  fool,  Millicent,"  Leslie  admonished.  "  I'm 
sick  of  these  displays  of  temper — they  don't  become  you. 
I  tell  you  I  plotted  nothing  except  to  get  my  man  into 
my  own  hands  again.  The  other  rascals  exceeded  their 
orders  on  their  own  responsibility.  Oh,  you  would  wear 
out  any  poor  man's  patience !  Folks  in  my  position  don't 
do  such  childish  things  as  hire  people  to  upset  wagons 
loaded  with  machinerv." 

at 

"  I  do  not  believe  you,"  replied  Millicent,  and  Leslie 
laughed  ironically. 

"  I  don't  know  that  it  greatly  matters  whether  you  do 
or  not.  Have  you  any  more  such  dutiful  things  to 
say?" 

"  .Tust  this.  One  hears  of  honor  among  thieves,  and  it 
is  evident  you  cannot  rise  even  to  that.  You  have  once 
more  tricked  me,  and  henceforward  I  warn  you  that  you 
must  carry  on  your  work  in  your  own  way.      Further, 


214   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

if  I  hear  of  any  more  plotting  to  do  Thurston  injury,  I 
shall  at  once  inform  him." 

"  Then,"  Leslie  gripped  her  arm  until  his  fingers  left 
their  mark  on  the  soft  white  flesh,  "I  warn  you  that  it 
will  be  so  much  the  worse  for  you.  Good  heavens,  why 
don't  you — but  go,  and  don't  tempt  me  to  say  what  I  feel 
greatly  tempted  to." 

Millicent  shook  off  his  grasp,  moved  slowly  away,  turn- 
ing to  fling  back  a  bitter  answer  from  the  half-opened 
door. 

"  Confound  her ! "  said  Leslie,  refilling  the  glass  upon 
the  table.  "  Now,  what  the  devil  tempted  me  to  ruin  all 
my  prospects  by  marrying  that  woman  ?  " 


CHAPTER    XXI 

REPARATION 

"  You  will  have  to  go,"  said  Henry  Leslie,  glancing 
sharply  at  his  wife  across  the  breakfast-table  as  he  re- 
turned her  an  open  letter  which  had  lately  arrived  by  the 
English  mail.  "  I  hardly  know  where  to  find  the  money 
for  your  passage  ont  and  home  just  now,  and  you  will 
want  new  dresses — women  always  seem  to.  Still,  we  can't 
afford  to  miss  an  opportunity,  and  it  may  prove  a  good 
investment,"  he  added,  reflectively. 

Millicent  sighed  as  she  took  the  letter,  and,  ignoring 
her  husband's  words,  read  it  through  again.  It  had  been 
written  by  a  relative,  a  member  of  the  legal  profession,  and 
requested  her  to  return  at  once  to  England.  The  stern 
old  man,  who  had  reared  her,  was  slowly  dying,  and  had 
expressed  an  urgent  wish  to  see  her. 

"  Isn't  that  the  man  who  wanted  you  to  marry  Thurs- 
ton, and  when  you  disappointed  him  washed  his  hands  of 
both  of  you?"  Leslie  inquired.  "There  were  reasons  why 
I  hadn't  the  pleasure  of  duly  making  the  acquaintance  of 
your  relatives,  but  I  think  you  said  he  was  tolerably 
wealthy,  and,  as  he  evidently  desires  a  reconciliation,  you 
must  do  your  best  to  please  him.  Let  me  see.  You  might 
catch  the  next  New  York  Cunarder  or  the  Allan  boat  from 
Quebec." 

Millicent  looked  up  at  him  angrily.  She  was  not  wholly 
heartless,  and  her  kinsman  had  not  only  provided  for  her 
after  her  parents  died  in  financial  difficulties,  but  in  his 
own  austere  fashion  he  had  been  kind  to  her.  Accordingly, 
her  husband's  comments  jarred  upon  her. 

"  I  should  certainly  go,  even  if  I  had  to  travel  by 
Colonist  car  and  steerage,"  she  declared.     "  I  should  do 

215 


216   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

bo  if  there  were  no  hope  of  financial  benefit,  which  is, 
after  all,  very  uncertain,  for  Anthony  Thurston  is  not  the 
man  to  change  his  mind  when  he  has  once  come  to  a  de- 
termination. The  fact  that  he  is  dying  and  asks  for  me 
is  sufficient — though  it  is  perhaps  useless  to  expect  you  to 
believe  it." 

"  We  must  all  die  some  day,"  was  the  abstracted  an- 
swer. "  Hardly  an  original  observation,  is  it  ?  But  it 
would  be  folly  to  let  such  a  chance  pass,  and  I  must  try 
to  spare  you.  If  you  really  feel  it,  I  sympathize  with  you, 
and  had  no  intention  of  wounding  your  sensibilities,  but 
as,  unfortunately,  circumstances  force  us  to  consider  these 
questions  practically,  you  will — well,  you  will  do  your 
best  with  the  old  man,  Millicent.  To  put  it  so,  you  owe 
a  duty  to  me." 

Leslie  and  his  wife  had  by  this  time  learned  to  see  each 
other's  real  self,  naked  and  stripped  of  all  disguise,  and 
the  sight  was  not  calculated  to  inspire  either  with  super- 
fluous delicacy.  The  man,  however,  overlooked  the  fact 
that  his  partner  in  life  still  clung  to  a  last  grace  of  senti- 
ment, and  could,  on  occasion,  deceive  herself. 

"  I  owe  you  a  duty !  How  have  you  discharged  yours 
to  me?"  she  said,  reproachfully.  "Do  not  force  me  to 
oppose  you,  Harry,  but  if  you  are  wise,  go  around  to  the 
depot  and  find  out  when  the  steamers  sail." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,"  Leslie  acquiesced  with  a  smile,  which 
he  did  not  mean  to  be  wholly  ironical.  "  Would  it  be  any 
use  for  me  to  say  that  I  shall  miss  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Millicent,  though  she  returned  his 
smile.  "You  really  would  not  expect  me  to  believe  you. 
Still,  if  only  because  of  the  rareness  of  such  civility,  I 
rather  like  to  hear  you  say  so." 

Mrs.  Leslie  sailed  in  the  first  Cunarder,  and  duly  ar- 
rived at  a  little  station  in  the  North  of  England  where  a 
dogcart  was  waiting  to  drive  her  to  Crosbic  Ghyll.  She 
had  known  the  man,  who  drove  it  long  before,  and  he  told 
her,   with   full   details,  how   Anthony   Thurston,   having 


REPARATION  217 

come  down  from  an  iron-working  town  to  visit  the  owner 
of  the  dilapidated  mansion  had  been  wounded  by  a  gun 
accident  while  shooting.  The  wound  was  not  of  itself 
serious,  but  the  old  man's  health  was  failing,  and  he  had 
not  vitality  enough  to  recover  from  the  shock. 

Meantime,  while  Millicent  Leslie  was  driven  across  the 
bleak  brown  moorlands,  Anthony  Thurston  lay  in  the  great 
bare  guest-chamber  at  Crosbie  Ghyll.  He  had  been  a  hard, 
determined  man,  a  younger  son  who  had  made  money  in 
business,  while  his  brothers  died  poor,  clinging  to  the  land, 
and  it  was  with  characteristic  grimness  that  he  was  quietly 
awaiting  his  end.  The  narrow,  deep-sunk  window  in  front 
of  him  was  open  wide,  though  the  evening  breeze  blew 
chilly  from  the  fells,  which  rose  blackly  against  an  orange 
glow.  Though  he  manifested  no  impatience,  the  sunset 
light  beating  in  showed  an  expectant  look  in  his  eyes.  A 
much  younger  man  sat  at  a  table  close  by  and  laid  down 
the  pen  he  held,  when  the  other  said : 

"  That  will  do,  Halliday.  Is  there  any  sign  of  the  dog- 
cart yet  ?    You  are  sure  she  will  come  to-night  ?  " 

"There  is  a  vehicle  of  some  kind  behind  the  larches, 
but  I  cannot  see  it  clearly,"  was  the  answer.  "  You  can 
rest  satisfied,  sir,  for  if  Mrs.  Leslie  has  missed  the  train, 
she  will  arrive  early  to-morrow/' 

"  To-morrow  may  be  too  late,"  said  the  old  man.  "  I 
do  not  feel  well  to-night.  Yes,  she  will  come.  Millicent 
is  like  her  father,  and,  though  he  ruined  himself,  it  was 
not  because  he  hadn't  a  keen  eye  for  the  main  chance. 
Because  I  was  a  lonely  man  and  because,  in  my  strug- 
gling days  her  mother  was  kind  to  me,  I  was  fond  of  her. 
You  needn't  be  jealous,  Halliday.  You  will  have  the 
winding  up  of  my  estate,  and  it  won't  affect  your 
share." 

There  was  a  vein  of  misanthropic  irony  in  most  of 
what  Anthony  Thurston  said,  but  the  other  man  had  the 
same  blood  in  him,  and  answered  quickly : 

"  My  own  business  is  flourishing,  and  I  have  tried  to 


218      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

serve  you  hitherto  because  of  the  relationship.  I  have  no 
other  reason,  sir." 

"  No,"  assented  Thurston,  with  something  approaching 
a  laugh.  "  There  is  no  doubt  you  are  genuine.  Millicent 
took  after  her  father  and,  in  spite  of  it,  I  was  fond  of  her. 
Tell  me  again.  Did  you  consider  her  happy  when  you  saw 
her  in  Canada  ?  " 

"  As  I  said  before,  it  is  a  delicate  question,  but  I  did, 
not  think  so.  Her  husband  struck  me  as  a  particularly 
poor  sample,  sir." 

"  Ah !  She  married  the  rascal  suddenly  out  of  pique, 
perhaps,  when  Geoffrey  left  her.  I  could  never  quite  get 
at  the  truth  of  that  story,  which,  of  course,  was  framed  in 
the  conventional  way,  but  even  now,  though  he's  nearer  of 
kin  than  Millicent,  I  can't  quite  forgive  Geoffrey.  You 
saw  him,  you  said,  on  your  last  visit  to  those  mines." 

The  speaker's  tone  was  indifferent,  but  his  eyes  showed 
keen  interest,  and  Halliday  answered: 

"  If  ever  the  whole  truth  came  out  I  don't  think  you 
would  blame  Geoffrey,  sir.  Individual^,  I  would  take  his 
word  against — well,  against  any  woman's  solemn  declara- 
tion. Yes,  I  saw  him.  He  was  making  a  pretty  fight 
single-handed  against  almost  overwhelming  natural  diffi- 
culties." 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Anthony  Thurston.  "  A  woman  out 
there,  eh?  Are  you  pleading  his  cause,  Halliday?  Re- 
member, if  you  convince  me,  he  may  be  another  partici- 
pant in  the  property." 

"  He  did  not  explain  all  his  motives  to  me,  and  nobody 
ever  gained  much  by  attempting  to  force  a  Thurston's 
confidence.  If  you  were  not  my  kinsman  and  were  in 
better  health  I  should  feel  tempted  to  recommend  you  to 
place  your  affairs  in  other  hands.  Confound  the  prop- 
erty ! " 

There  was  a  curious  cackle  in  the  sick  man's  throat,  and 
the  nicker  of  a  smile  in  his  sunken  eyes. 

"  I  can  believe  it.    You  are  tarred  with  the  same  brush 


REPARATION  219 

as  Geoffrey.  The  obstinate  fool  must  go  out  there  with  a 
couple  of  hundred  pounds  or  so,  when  he  knew  he  had  only 
to  humor  me  by  marrying  Millieent  and  wait  for  pros- 
perity. And  yet,  in  one  way,  I'm  glad  he  did.  He  never 
wrote  me  to  apologize  or  explain — still,  that's  hardly  sur- 
prising either.  I  don't  know  that  any  of  us  ever  troubled 
much  about  other  folks'  opinions  or  listened  to  advice. 
Here  am  I,  who  might  have  lived  another  ten  years,  dying, 
because,  when  an  officious  keeper  warned  me,  I  went  the 
opposite  way.     I  hear  wheels,  Halliday." 

"  It  is  the  dogcart,"  Halliday  announced.  "  Yes — I  see 
Mrs.  Leslie." 

"  Thank  God !  "  said  the  sick  man.  "  Bring  her  here 
as  soon  as  she's  ready.  Meantime,  send  in  the  doctor.  I 
feel  worse  to-night." 

The  light  was  dying  fast  when  Millieent  Leslie  came 
softly  into  the  great  bare  room,  and,  for  Anthony  Thurston 
had  paid  for  overtaxing  his  waning  strength,  her  heart 
smote  her  as  she  looked  upon  him.  She  could  recognize 
the  stamp  of  fast  approaching  death.  There  was  an  un- 
usual gentleness  in  his  eyes,  which  brightened  at  her  ap- 
proach, and  with  the  exception  of  Geoffrey,  whose  sym- 
pathy filled  her  with  shame,  it  was  long  since  anyone  had 
looked  upon  her  with  genuine  kindliness.  So  it  was  with 
real  sorrow  she  knelt  beside  the  bed  and  kissed  him. 

"  I  was  shocked  to  hear  of  your  accident,  but  it  was 
some  time  ago,  and  you  are  recovering,"  she  remarked, 
trying  to  speak  hopefully,  but  with  a  catch  in  her  breath. 

"  I  am  dying,"  was  the  answer,  and  Millieent  sobbed 
when  the  withered  fingers  rested  on  her  hair. 

"  I  wanted  to  see  you  before  I  went.  I  was  fond  of  you, 
Milly,  and  you — you  and  Geoffrey  angered  me.  It  was  not 
your  fault,"  the  somewhat  strained  voice  added  wistfully. 
"  He — I  don't  wish  to  hurt  you,  or  hear  the  stereotyped 
version  he  of  course  endorsed.    He  left  you  ?  " 

Millieent  Leslie  was  not  wholly  evil.  She  had  a  softer 
side,  and,  in  the  moment  of  reconciliation,  dreaded  to  in- 


220   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

flict  further  pain  upon  one  to  whom  she  owed  much.  If 
the  truth  was  not  in  her,  there  was  one  tiling  in  her 
favor,  so  at  least  she  afterwards  tried  to  convince  herself. 
Prompted  by  a  desire  to  soothe  a  dying  man's  last  hours, 
she  voluntarily  accepted  a  very  unpleasant  part.  She  was 
thankful  her  head  was  bent  as  she  said :  "  It  was  perhaps 
my  fault.  I  would  not — I  could  not  consent  to  humor 
him  in  what  appeared  a  senseless  project — and  so  Geoffrey 
went  to  Canada." 

She  felt  the  old  man's  hand  move  caressingly  across 
her  hair.  "  Poor  Millicent,"  he  sympathized.  "  And  you 
chose  another  husband.  Are  you  happy  with  him  out 
there  ?  But  sta}%  it  is  twilight  and  the  old  place  is  gloomy. 
If  you  would  like  them,  ask  for  candles.  Geoffrey — Geof- 
f rev  left  vou  !  " 

Millicent  did  not  desire  candles,  but  gently  drew  herself 
away.  Anthony  Thurston's  tenderness  had  touched  her, 
and,  with  sudden  compunction,  she  remembered  that  she 
had  deceived  a  dying  man.  He  believed  her,  but  she  did 
not  wish  him  to  see  her  face.  She  drew  a  chair  towards  the 
bed,  and  for  a  moment  looked  about  her,  striving  to  collect 
her  scattered  thoughts.  Framed  by  the  stone-ribbed  win- 
dow, the  afterglow  still  shimmered,  a  pale  luminous  green, 
and  one  star  twinkled  over  the  black  shoulder  of  Crosbie 
Fell.  Curlews  called  mournfully  down  in  the  misty 
mosses,  and  when  she  turned  her  head  the  sick  man's  face 
showed  faintly  livid  against  the  darker  coverings  of  the 
bed.  For  a  moment  she  felt  tempted  to  make  full  confes- 
sion, or  at  least  excuses  for  Geoffrey,  but  Anthony  Thurs- 
ton spoke  again  just  then  and  the  moment  was  lost. 

"I  asked  arc  you  happy  in  Canada.  Millicent,"  he  re- 
peated, and  tbcre  was  command  as  well  as  kindness  in 
his  tone.  Anthony  Thurston,  mine  owner  and  iron  works 
director,  was  dying,  but  he  had  long  been  a  ruler  of  stiff- 
necked  men,  and  the  habit  of  authority  still  remained  with 
him.  It  struck  Millicent  that  he  was  in  many  ways  very 
like  Geoffrey. 


REPARATION  221 

"  I  am  not,"  she  admitted.  "  I  would  not  have  told  you 
if  you  had  not  insisted.  It  is  the  result  of  my  own  folly, 
and  there  is  no  use  complaining." 

Anthony  Thurston  stretched  out  a  thin,  claw-like  hand 
and  laid  it  on  one  of  her  own.     "  Tell  me,"  he  said. 

"  We  are  poor.  That  is,  my  husband's  position  is  pre- 
carious, and  it  is  a  constant  struggle  to  live  up  to  it." 

"Then  why  do  you  try?" 

Millicent  sighed  as  she  answered: 

"  It  is,  I  believe,  necessary  or  he  would  lose  it,  while  he 
aims  at  obtaining  sufficient  influence  to  win  him  a  con- 
nection, if  he  resumed  his  former  land  business." 

"From  what  I  know  it  is  a  rascally  business;  but  there 
is  more  than  this.  My  time  is  very  short,  Millicent,  but  it 
seems  such  a  very  little  while  since  a  bright-haired  girl 
who  atoned  for  another's  injury  sat  upon  my  knee,  and 
for  the  sake  of  those  days  I  can  still  protect  you.  Your 
husband  treats  you  ill  ?  " 

There  was  a  vibration  in  the  strained  voice  which  more 
strongly  reminded  the  listener  of  Geoffrey's,  and  awoke 
her  bitterness  against  the  man  she  had  married.  It  was 
so  long  since  she  had  taken  a  living  soul  into  her  con- 
fidence, that  she  answered  impulsively:  "There  is  no  use 
hiding  the  truth  from  you.    He  does  not  treat  me  well." 

Then  she  related  the  story  of  her  married  life,  and 
Anthony  Thurston  listened  gravely,  comprehending  more 
than  she  meant  to  tell  him,  for  when  she  had  finished  he 
commented  :  "  You  have  neither  been  over  loyal  nor  over 
wise — too  quick  to  see  the  present  gain,  blind  to  the  greafer 
one  behind — but  it  is  my  part  to  help,  not  blame  you,  and 
I  will  try  to  do  so.  It  is  dark  now.  Please  ask  for  my 
draught  and  the  candles.  Then  I  want  you  to  tell  me 
about  Geoffrey.     You  have  met  him  in  Canada." 

Millicent,  retiring,  stood  for  a  few  minutes  looking  down 
from  a  narrow  window  in  the  bare  stone  corridor  on  to  the 
moor.  There  was  no  moon,  but  the  night  was  luminous, 
for  the  stars  twinkled  with  a  windy  glitter  that  was  flung 


222   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

back  by  a  neighboring  tarn.  The  call  of  the  curlew  seemed 
more  mournful,  the  crying  of  lapwing  rose  from  the 
meadow  land,  and  she  started  at  a  hollow  hoot  as  an  owl 
swept  by  on  muffled  wing.  The  night  voices  filled  her  with 
an  eerie  sensation — there  was,  she  recollected,  always 
something  creepy  about  Crosbie  Ghvll,  and,  for  Millicent 
was  superstitious,  she  shivered  again  at  the  reflection  that 
she  had  cheated  a  dying  man.  But  she  could  make  partial 
reparation  to  the  living  at  least,  and  when  she  came  back 
with  the  candles  there  was  resolve  in  her  face. 

"  You  asked  me  about  Geoffrey.  He  has  no  reason  to 
be  ashamed  of  his  record  in  Canada,"  she  said.  "  I  will 
tell  you  what  I  know  from  the  beginning — and  I  hope  I 
shall  tell  it  well." 

It  was  a  relief  to  do  so,  and  the  story  of  Geoffrey's 
struggle  and  prospective  triumph  was  a  stirring  one  as  it 
fell  from  the  lips  of  the  woman  who  had  thrice  wronged 
him.  She  guessed  how  her  husband's  employers  had 
plotted,  having  gathered  much  from  the  talk  of  his  guests, 
and  the  old  man  listened  eagerly,  until  he  struck  the  cov- 
erlet when  she  concluded.  Grim  satisfaction  was  stamped 
upon  his  twitching  face. 

"  It  is  a  brave  story.  I  thank  you,  Millicent ;  you  told 
it  very  well.  Ay,  the  old  blood  tells — and  I  was  proud  of 
the  lad.  Went  his  own  way  in  spite  of  me — he  is  my 
kinsman,  what  should  I  expect  of  him?  Standing  alone 
for  a  broken  master,  with  cunning  and  wealth  against  him 
and  his  last  dollar  in  the  scheme !  Quite  in  keeping  with 
traditions,  and  there'll  be  broken  crowns  before  they  beat 
him  down." 

The  dying  man,  who  had  fought  perhaps  as  stubbornly 
all  his  life  long,  gasped  once  or  twice  before  he  added, 
"You  must  go  now,  Millicent.     Send  Halliday  to  me." 

Millicent  went  out  with  a  throbbing  pulse  and  downcast 
eyes,  and  when  the  lawyer  came  in  Thurston  said:  "Read 
over  that  partly  completed  will." 


REPARATION  223 

"  Had  you  not  better  rest  until  to-morrow,  sir  ? "  was 
the  answer.    "Dr.  Maltby  warned  you " 

"  You  ought  to  know  by  this  time  that  I  seldom  take  a 
warning,  and  to-morrow  may  be  too  late.  Write,  and 
write  quickly.  After  payment  of  all  bequests  above,  bal- 
ance of  real  estate  to  yourself  and  Forsyth  as  trustees,  to 
apply  and  use  for  the  individual  benefit  of  Millicent  Leslie. 
If  her  husband  lays  hands  upon  it,  I'll  haunt  you.  You 
have  power  to  nominate  Geoffrey  Thurston  as  your  co- 
trustee. God  knows  what  may  happen,  and  her  rascally 
husband  may  get  himself  shot  by  somebody  he  has 
swindled  some  day.  What  I  wished  for  mightn't  follow 
then?  I'm  paying  you  to  make  my  will  and  not  dictate 
to  me.  Eepeat  it  as  many  times  as  may  appear  necessary 
to  let  my  meaning  show  clearly  through  your  legal  phrase- 
ology/' 

"  I  have  got  it  down,  sir,"  the  writer  told  him  pres- 
ently. 

"  Now,  after  deductions  enumerated,  all  my  floating  in- 
vestments in  mines,  stocks  and  shares  to  Geoffrey  Thurs- 
ton, to  hold  or  sell  as  pleases  him,  unconditionally.  Be- 
queathed in  the  hope  that  this  will  help  him  to  confound 
his  enemies." 

It  was  written,  signed  and  witnessed  by  Muskcr  and  the 
surgeon,  then  Anthony  Thurston  asked  once  more  and  very 
faintly  for  Millicent.  He  drew  her  down  beside  him  and 
took  her  hand  in  his  thin,  gnarled  one  before  he  said : 

"  I  have  done  my  best  for  you,  Milly — and  again  thank 
you  for  the  story.  After  what  Halliday  said,  it  has  helped 
to  conquer  an  old  bitterness,  and — for  my  work  is  finished 
— I  can  die  contented.  I  may  be  gone  to-morrow,  and  my 
strength  is  spent.    Good-by,  Milly.    God  bless  you!" 

Millicent  stooped  and  kissed  him  with  a  sense  of  shame. 
Before  morning  all  power  of  speech  or  volition  left  An- 
thony Thurston,  and  twelve  hours  later  he  was  dead. 


CHAPTEE    XXII 

A    REPRIEVE 

IT  was  with  a  heavy  heart  that  Geoffrey  Thurston  turned 
over  the  papers  Thomas  Savine  spread  out  before  him  in 
the  Vancouver  offices. 

"  I'm  almost  scared  to  do  any  more  figuring,"  said  Sa- 
vine. "  Money  is  going  to  be  uncommonly  tight  with  us, 
and,  to  make  things  worse,  I  can  neither  realize  nor  bor- 
row. My  brother's  investments  are  way  below  par  now, 
and  the  first  sign  of  any  weakness  would  raise  up  an  op- 
position that  would  finish  us.  I  cant  stay  here  forever, 
and  poor  Julius  is  steadily  getting  worse  instead  of  better. 
Are  you  still  certain  you  can  get  the  work  done  before  the 
winter's  through?" 

"  Yes,"  asserted  Geoffrey.  "  If  I  can  get  the  ma- 
chinery and  sufficient  men — which  means  money.  There's 
a  moderate  fortune  waiting  us  once  we  can  run  the  water 
out  of  the  valley,  and  it's  worth  a  desperate  effort  to 
secure  it." 

"  We  have  made  a  good  many  daring  moves  since  my 
brother  gave  me  his  power  of  attorney,  and  I  have  sunk 
more  of  my  own  money  than  my  partners,  who  have  backed 
me  pluckily,  care  about.  Still,  I  can't  see  how  I'm  going 
to  meet  your  estimate,  nohow." 

"  You  have  just  got  to  do  it,"  Geoffrey  insisted.  "  It  is 
the  part  you  chose.  At  my  end,  I'll  stop  for  nothing  short 
of  manslaughter.  We  simply  can't  afford  to  be  beaten,  and 
we're  not  going  to  be." 

"  I  hope  not,"  and  Thomas  Savine  sighed  dubiously. 
"Your  assurance  is  refreshing,  Geoffrey,  but  I  own  up  I 
can't  see — well,  we've  done  enough  for  one  day.  Come 
round  and  spend  the  evening  with  me.  Mrs.  Savine  is 
anxious  to  see  you." 


A    REPRIEVE  225 

Geoffrey  hesitated  for  a  few  seconds,  and  Thomas  Sa- 
line smiled  at  something  which  faintly  amused  him.  Re- 
membering Helen's  freezing  look  and  his  occupation  when 
she  last  saw  him,  Geoffrey  felt  that  it  might  not  be  pleas- 
ant to  meet  her  so  soon.  Then,  because  he  was  a  proud 
man,  he  endeavored  to  accept  the  invitation  with  cordiality. 

"  I  am  glad  you  will  come,"  said  Thomas  Savine,  with 
a  trace  of  the  dry  humor  which  occasionally  characterized 
him. 

Geoffrey,  who  felt  that  in  this  instance  the  pleasure  was 
hardly  mutual,  and  that  Helen  might  not  share  it  with 
her  uncle,  said  nothing  further  on  that  subject,  until  Mrs. 
Savine  met  him  in  the  hotel  corridor.  A  friendship  had 
grown  up  between  them  since  the  day  Geoffrey  endured 
the  elixir,  after  mending  the  bicycle,  and  there  was  a  mis- 
chievous amusement  in  the  lady's  eyes  as  she  said :  "  My 
compliments,  Geoffrey.    You  are  a  brave  man." 

u  I  don't  deserve  them,  madam.  Wherein  lies  the 
bravery?  Being  at  present  in  perfect  health,  I  have  no 
cause  to  fear  you." 

Mrs.  Savine  laughed  good-naturedly,  then  laid  her  hand 
upon  his  arm  with  a  friendly  gesture.  "  Sober  earnest,  I 
am  glad  you  came.  I  believe  in  you,  Geoffrey,  and  like  to 
see  a  man  show  the  grit  that's  in  him." 

"  I  am  honored,"  returned  Geoffrey,  with  a  little  bow. 
There  was  a  srrateful  look  in  his  brown  eyes,  which  did 
not  quail  in  the  slightest  under  the  lady's  scrutiny. 

In  spite  of  her  good-will,  he,  however,  derived  little 
pleasure  from  that  evening  of  relaxation.  Helen  showed 
no  open  displeasure,  but  he  was  painfully  conscious  that 
what  she  had  seen  had  been  a  shock  to  her.  It  was  impos- 
sible for  him  to  volunteer  an  explanation.  He  was  glad 
to  retire  with  Savine  and  a  cigar-box  to  the  veranda,  and 
trying  to  console  himself  with  the  reflection  that  lie  had  at 
least  shown  no  weakness — he  took  his  leave  early.  Helen 
was  not  present  when  he  bade  Mrs.  Savine  farewell,  but 
she  saw  him  stride  away  over  the  gravel.     Though  she 


226      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

would  not  ask  herself  why,  she  felt  gratified  that  he  had 
not  stayed  away. 

It  was  some  time  later  when,  one  day  of  early  winter, 
he  sat  in  his  wooden  shanty,  which  at  that  season  replaced 
the  tent  above  the  canon.  Close  by  English  Jim  was  busy 
writing,  and  Geoffrey,  gnawing  an  unlighted  pipe,  glanced 
alternately  through  the  open  door  at  his  hurrying  workmen 
and  at  the  letter  from  Thomas  Savine  which  he  held  in 
his  hand. 

The  letter  expressed  a  fear  that  a  financial  crisis  was 
imminent.  "  Tell  him  he  must  settle  all  local  bills  up  to 
the  minute,"  said  Thurston,  throwing  it  across  to  his 
amanuensis.  "  I  daresay  the  English  makers  will  wait  a 
little  for  payment  due  on  machinery.  Did  you  find  that 
the  amount  I  mentioned  would  cover  the  wages  through 
the  winter  ?  " 

"  Only  just,"  was  the  answer.  "  That  is,  unless  you 
could  cut  some  of  them  a  little." 

"  Not  a  cent,"  Geoffrey  replied.  "  The  poor  devils  who 
risk  their  lives  daily  fully  earn  their  money." 

"  Do  you  know  their  wages  equal  the  figure  the  strikers 
demanded  and  you  refused  to  pay  ?  Summers  told  me 
about  that  dispute,  sir,"  ventured  English  Jim. 

"  The  strikers  were  not  prepared  to  earn  higher  pay — 
and  that  one  word,  '  demanded,'  makes  a  big  difference. 
Hello!  who  is  the  stranger?" 

Mattawa  Tom  was  directing  a  horseman  towards  the 
shanty,  and  Geoffrey,  who  watched  the  newcomer  with 
growing  interest,  found  something  familiar  in  his  face  and 
figure,  until  he  rose  up  in  astonishment  when  the  man 
rode  nearer. 

"Halliday,  by  all  that's  wonderful!"  he  cried.  "Un- 
commonly glad  to  see  you ;  but  whatever  brought  you 
back  to  this  far-off  land  again?" 

"  Several  things,"  was  the  answer,  as  Halliday,  shaking 
the  snow  from  his  furs,  dismounted  stiffly.  "Strain  of 
overwork  necessitated  a  change,  my  doctor  told  me.    Trust 


A    REPRIEVE  227 

estate  I'm  winding  up  comprised  doubtful  British  Colum- 
bian mining  interests,  and  last,  but  not  least,  to  see  you, 
Geoffrey." 

The  man's  fur  coat  was  open  now,  and  Geoffrey,  who 
glanced  at  the  black  coat  beneath  it,  said : 

"  I'm  glad  you  wanted  to  see  me,  anyway,  but  come  in. 
Here,  Jake,  take  the  horse  to  the  stable.  Are  my  sym- 
pathies needed,  Halliday — any  of  my  new  friends  over 
yonder  dead  ?  " 

Halliday  stared  at  him  blankly.  "  Haven't  you  read 
the  letter  I  sent  you?  Do  you  get  no  English  papers?" 
he  questioned. 

"  No,  to  both.  I  fancy  very  few  people  over  yonder 
trouble  themselves  as  to  whether  I'm  living.  How  did 
you  address  your  letter  ?  " 

"  Orchard  City,  or  was  it  Orchardville  ?  Mrs.  Leslie 
told  me  the  name  of  the  postoffice,  and  I  looked  it  up  on 
a  map." 

Geoffrey  thrust  his  guest  into  a  chair. 

"That  explains  it.  This  is  Orchard  Valley;  the  other 
place  is  away  across  the  province,  a  forlorn  hamlet,  and 
some  ox-driving  postmaster  has  no  doubt  returned  your 
letter.  Do  you  bring  bad  news?  Don't  keep  me  in  sus- 
pense." 

"Anthony  Thurston's  dead.  Died  in  your  old  place, 
partly  the  result  of  a  gun  accident,"  answered  Halliday, 
and  Geoffrey  sat  silent  for  a  moment. 

"  I'm  sorry — yes,  sincerely,"  he  said  at  last.  "  I  can 
say  it  freely,  because,  as  I  daresay  you  know,  I  disap- 
pointed him,  and  can  in  no  way  benefit  by  his  death.  In 
fact,  he  had  the  power  to  refuse  me  what  was  morally  my 
right,  and  no  doubt  he  exercised  it.  Still,  now  it's  too  late, 
I  feel  ashamed  that  I  never  tried  to  patch  up  the  quarrel. 
Poor  old  Anthony !  " 

Halliday  smiled.  "You  are  a  better  fellow  than  you 
often  lead  folks  to  suppose,  Geoffrey — and  I  quite  believe 
you.  Such  regrets  are,  however,  generally  useless,  are  they 


228   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

not?  In  this  case  especially  so,  for  Anthony  Thurston 
forgot  the  quarrel  before  he  died,  and  sent  you  his  very 
good  wishes.  I  see  I  have  a  surprise  in  store.  You  are  a 
beneficiary.  He  has  bequeathed  you  considerably  more 
than  your  moral  share  in  the  property." 

Thurston  strode  up  and  down  the  shanty  before  he 
halted. 

"  I'm  glad  that,  though  perhaps  I  deserved  it,  he  didn't 
carry  the  bitterness  into  the  grave  with  him,"  he  declared 
with  earnestness.  "We  were  too  much  like  each  other  to 
get  on  well,  but  there  was  a  time  when  he  was  a  good 
friend  to  me.  It's  no  use  pretending  I'm  not  pleased  at 
what  you  tell  me — it  means  a  great  deal  to  me.  But  you 
must  be  tired  and  hungry,  and  I  want  to  talk  by  the  hour 
to  you." 

Halliday  did  full  justice  to  the  meal  which  the  camp 
cook  produced,  and  afterwards  the  two  men  sat  talking 
until  the  short  winter  afternoon  had  drawn  to  a  close  and 
the  first  stars  were  blinking  down  on  untrodden  snows. 
Answering  a  question  Halliday  said : 

"  Your  share — I'll  show  you  a  complete  list  when  I 
unpack  my  things — will,  if  left  invested,  provide  you  with 
a  moderate  income  for  a  single  man.  Indeed,  with  your 
Spartan  tastes,  you  might  live  in  what  you  would 
consider  luxury.  As  usual,  however,  in  such  cases,  the 
securities  are  not  readily  marketable,  and  your  interest  in 
some  ventures  could  hardly  be  summarily  realized  at  any 

rifice.  The  whole  is  left  to  you  unconditionally,  but 
my  advice  is  decidedly  that  you  hold  on." 

"  I  am  sorry,"  Geoffrey  replied,  "  because  even  at  a 
sacrifice  I  intend  to  sell.  If  you're  not  too  tired  to  listen 
.1  little  longer,  I'll  try  to  explain  why." 

Halliday  listened  gravely.     Then  he  commented: 

"As  Anthony  Thurston  said,  it  is  characteristic  of  you, 
and  it's  possible  that  he  would  have  approved  of  what  on 
the  surface  looks  like  folly.  He  slated  that  he  hoped  the 
b<  quest  would  help  you  to  confound  your  enemies.     But 


A    REPRIEVE  229 

you  must  act  as  a  business  man.  You  say  that,  if  you  go 
deeper,  your  firm  might  still  wind  up  just  solvent;  then 
why  not  abandon  the  apparently  hopeless  project,  and 
withdraw?  Follow  your  profession  if  you  must  work,  or 
live  upon  your  income.  This  drainage  scheme  looks  tol- 
erably desperate  on  your  own  showing,  and  if,  selling  at  a 
sacrifice  you  sink  all  your  new  possessions  in  it,  you  may 
be  left  utterly  cleaned  out,  a  beggar.  You  have  no  other 
relatives  likely  to  leave  you  another  competence,  Geof- 
frey." 

"  It  can't  be  helped — or  rather  I  don't  want  to  help  it. 
I've  pledged  my  word  and  honor  to  see  this  undertaking 
through,  and  I  mean  to  redeem  it  if  it  ruins  me.  Now 
what  were  you  telling  me  about  Mrs.  Leslie  ?  " 

Halliday  explained  for  some  minutes  before  he  said : 

"  You  are  on  the  spot,  and  it's  your  duty  to  join  us. 
Anthony  Thurston  was  always  eccentric,  and  has  left  us 
a  very  troublesome  charge.  Her  husband  is  not  to  get  at 
the  money,  and  this  discrimination  between  man  and  wife 
is  going  to  be  confoundedly  awkward.  However,  as  I'm 
going  to  stay  some  little  time,  and  if  possible  shoot  a 
mountain  sheep,  we  can  discuss  it  at  leisure." 

Thomas  Savine,  who  came  up  in  a  day  or  two,  speedily 
became  good  friends  with  Halliday.  Geoffrey  had  his  work 
to  superintend,  and  was  suspicious  that  Halliday  seized 
the  opportunity  his  absence  afforded  to  explain  what  ap- 
peared to  him  a  sacrifice  of  Anthony  Thurston's  legacy. 
One  evening  when  Halliday  was  down  in  the  canon  watch- 
ing the  workmen  toiling  in  the  river,  under  the  lurid 
blaze  of  the  lucigen,  Thomas  Savine  said: 

"  I'm  going  to  talk  straight,  Geoffrey.  Your  friend  told 
me  the  whole  thing,  and  I  agree  with  his  opinion.  S  ■ 
here,  you  are  safe  for  life  if  you  hold  fast  to  what  you 
have  got  now — and  the  Lord  knows  whether  wo  will  ever 
be  successful  in  the  canon.  Of  course  the  money  would 
help  us,  but  it  isn't  sufficient  to  make  victory  dead  cer- 
tain, and  it  would  be  a  drop  in  the  bucket  if  we  came  down 


230   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

with  a  bang,  as  we  may  very  well  do.  Even  considering 
what's  at  stake,  I  couldn't  let  you  make  the  plunge  with- 
out protesting." 

"  If  I  had  ten  times  as  much,  or  ten  times  as  little,  it 
would  all  go  after  the  rest,"  replied  Geoffrey.  "  I  appre- 
ciate your  good  intentions,  but  you  can't,  and  never  will, 
convince  me,  so  there's  no  use  talking.  You  will,  in  the 
meantime,  say  not  a  word  to  Miss  Savine  on  the  subject." 

Xext  morning  Geoffrey  said  to  his  guest : 

"  I  want  you  to  write  out  a  telegram  to  your  partner  in 
England.  Yonder's  a  mounted  messenger  waiting  for  it. 
He's  to  sell  everything  bequeathed  to  me  at  the  best  price 
he  can.  You  have  done  your  best,  Halliday,  and  I  sup- 
pose I  ought  to  be  more  grateful  than  I  am,  but  you  see 
I'm  rather  fond  than  otherwise  of  a  big  risk.  We'll  ride 
over  with  Mr.  Savine  and  call  upon  my  partner  to-day." 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  the  two  arrived  at 
the  ranch  which  Savine  had  rented.  It  was  the  nearest 
dwelling  to  the  camp  that  could  be  rendered  comfortable, 
but  lay  some  distance  from  it,  over  a  very  bad  trail.  Helen 
was  not  cordial  towards  Geoffrey,  who  left  her  to  enter- 
tain  Halliday,  and  slipped  away  to  the  room  looking  down 
the  valley,  where  his  partner  sat  with  a  fur  robe  wrapped 
about  his  bent  shoulders.  Savine's  face  had  grown  very 
hollow  and  his  eyes  were  curiously  dim. 

"  It  was  good  of  you  to  come,  Geoffrey,"  he  said.. 
"  How  are  you  getting  on  in  the  canon?  " 

"  Famously,  sir.     We  are  certainly  going  to  beat  the 

••.",  m;is  the  prompt  answer,  and  remembering  the  ac- 

c  —ion  of  capita],  Geoffrey's  cheerfulness  was  real.    "I'm 

hoping  to  ask  Miss  Savine  to  fire  the  final  shot  some  time 

before  the  snows  melt." 

Savine  looked  at  him  with  a  trace  of  his  old  keenness, 
and  appeared  satisfied  that  the  speaker  believed  in  his  own 
ill  ion.    Then  lie  smiled  as  he  answered  : 

"  You  do  me  good,  Geoffrey.  Good  news  is  better  than 
gallons  of  medicine,  and  when  you  make  such  a  promise  I 


A    REPRIEVE  231 

feel  I  can  trust  you.  I'm  grateful,  but  it's  mighty  trying 
to  lie  here  helpless  while,  another  man  plays  out  my  last 
and  boldest  game  for  me.  Lord !  what  wouldn't  I  give  for 
just  three  months  of  my  old  vigor !  Still,  I'll  never  be  fit 
again,  and  as  I  must  lean  on  somebody,  I'm  glad  it  should 
be  you." 

'  Lean  on  me !  You  have  given  me  the  chance  of  my 
life,  sir.  You  don't  look  quite  comfortable  there.  Let  me 
settle  that  rug  for  you,"  said  Geoffrey,  and  as  with  clumsy 
gentleness  he  rearranged  the  sick  man's  wrappings,  Helen 
came  unobserved  into  the  room.  She  read  the  pity  beneath 
the  smile  on  the  younger  man's  bronze  face  and  noticed 
how  willingly  his  hard  fingers  did  their  unaccustomed 
work.  Her  heart  grew  soft  towards  Geoffrey  as  she  heard 
her  father's  sigh  of  content.  The  sight  touched,  though, 
for  a  reason  she  was  ashamed  of,  it  also  troubled  her. 
Unwilling  to  disturb  them,  she  merely  smiled  when  Thurs- 
ton saw  her,  and  found  herself  a  seat  in  a  corner. 

"  My  brain's  not  so  clear  as  it  used  to  be.  No  use  hid- 
ing things.  Why,"  began  Savine,  and  Geoffrey,  who  sur- 
mised that  he  had  not  seen  his  daughter,  knocked  over  a 
medicine  bottle  with  his  elbow  and  spent  some  time 
noisily  groping  under  the  table  for  it.  The  action  might 
have  deceived  one  of  his  own  sex,  but  Helen,  who  won- 
dered what  his  motive  was,  grew  piqued  as  well  as  curious. 

"  I've  been  worrying  over  things  lately,"  continud  Sa- 
vine. "  There  was  one  of  the  rancher's  hired  men  in  and 
he  told  our  folks  a  mixed  story  about  a  sluice  gate  burst- 
ing. You  never  mentioned  it  to  me.  Now  I  have  a  hazy 
notion  that  I  made  a  drawing  for  a  gate  one  day,  when  I 
was— sick,  we'll  say.  I  looked  for  it  afterwards  and 
couldn't  find  it.  I've  been  thinking  over  it  considerable 
lately." 

"Then  you  are  very  foolish,  sir,"  declared  Geoffrey. 
"  Of  course,- we  have  had  one  or  two  minor  breakages,  but 
nothing  we  were  unable  to  remedy.  Just  now  everything 
is  going  ahead  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner." 


232   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

Helen,  who  watched  the  speaker,  decided  that  he  was 
concealing  something,  and  also  fancied  her  father  did  not 
seem  quite  satisfied. 

"  I've  been  wondering  whether  it  was  that  gate  which 
burst.  See  here,  Geoffrey,  I  feel  you  have  had  bad 
trouble;  isn't  it  a  little  mean  not  to  tell  me?  You  will 
remember  I'm  still  Julius  Savine — and  only  a  little  while 
ago  there  was  no  man  in  the  province  who  dared  to  try  to 
fool  me." 

A  measure  of  the  speaker's  former  spirit  revealed  itself 
in  a  clearer  vibration  of  his  voice,  and,  raising  himself 
in  his  chair,  Savine  became  for  a  moment  almost  the  man 
he  had  been. 

Thurston  had  determined  to  hold  his  fallen  leader's 
credit  safe,  not  only  before  the  eyes  of  others  but  even  in 
his  own,  and  was  doing  it  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

"  Of  course,  we  have  had  trouble — lots  of  it,  but  noth- 
ing we  could  not  overcome,"  he  repeated.  "  If  everything 
went  smoothly  it  would  grow  monotonous.  Still,  you  can 
rest  perfectly  contented,  sir,  and  assist  us  with  your  judg- 
ment, in  the  difficult  cases.  For  instance,  would  you  let 
me  know  what  you  think  of  these  specifications  ?  " 

Savine,  who  seemed  to  find  a  childish  pleasure  in  being 
consulted,  forgot  his  former  anxiety,  and  Geoffrey,  leav- 
ing him  contented,  Blipped  out  of  the  ranch,  and,  finding 
a  sheltered  path  among  the  redwoods,  paced  to  and  fro. 
Be  was  presently  surprised  to  see  Helen  move  out  from 
among  the  trees.  She  had  a  fur  about  her  shoulders 
which  set  off  the  finely-chiselled  face  above  it.     Neverthe- 

38,  for  once  at  least,  he  was  by  no  means  pleased  to  see 
her. 

"  I  wish  to  ask  you  a  question,"  she  said.  "  Of  course, 
I  have  heard  there  was  an  inquiry  into  the  breaking  of 
the  sluice,  but  neither  you  nor  my  uncle  thought  fit  to 
me  any  definite  information  on  the  subject.  Unfor- 
tunately, my  father  heard  distorted  rumors  of  the  acci- 
d<  at,  and  has  been  fretting  ever  since.    As  you  know,  this 


A    REPRIEVE  233 

is  most  detrimental  to  his  failing  health,  and,  so  that  I 
may  be  the  better  able  to  soothe  him  I  want  you  to  tell 
me  all  that  happened/' 

"  There  is  absolutely  no  cause  for  uneasiness.  As  I 
said,  we  had  one  or  two  difficulties  which  may  have 
been  vanquished.  Your  uncle  will  bear  me  out  in  this," 
answered  Geoffrey,  who  would  have  spoken  more  freely  had 
he  not  feared  the  girl's  keenness.  Helen's  face,  which  was 
at  first  scornful,  grew  anxious  as  she  responded : 

"  I  have  no  doubt  he  would !  In  fact,  when  I  asked 
him  he  explained  with  such  readiness  that  I  cannot  help 
concluding  you  have  both  conspired  to  keep  me  in  the 
dark.  Can  you  not  see  that,  situated  as  I  am  in  caring 
for  an  invalid  who  will  not  let  his  mind  rest,  uncertainty 
is  almost  worse  than  the  knowledge  of  disaster  to  me. 
Will  you  not  tell  me  frankly  what  you  fear  ?  " 

"  I  would  do  anything  to  drive  your  fears  away."  Geof- 
frey, who  felt  helpless  beneath  the  listener's  searching 
eyes,  spoke  with  sympathy  in  his  voice.  "  But  I  can  only 
say  again  there  is  very  .slight  cause  for  anxiety." 

Helen  turned  half  from  him,  angrily,  then  she  faced 
round  again.  "  You  are  not  a  good  dissembler.  If 
quick  at  making  statements  you  are  not  prepared  to  sub- 
stantiate them,"  she  declared.  "  You  would  do  any- 
thing to  dispel  my  fears — but  the  one  most  necessary 
tiling  1  ask.  You  have  passed  through,  or  are  now  facing, 
a  crisis,  and  though  some  knowledge  of  it  would  be  of 
great  help  to  me  you  do  not  consider  me  worthy  of  your 
confidence/' 

"  Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  think  so.     There  is  no 

one  more  worthy — but "    Helen  checked  him  with  a 

gesture. 

"I  desire  the  simple  truth  and  not  indifferent  compli- 
ments," she  said.  "You  will  not  tell  it  to  me,  and  I  will 
plead  with  you  no  further,  even  for  my  father's  sake. 
Wln-n  will  you  men  learn  that  a  woman's  discretion  is  at 
least  equal  to  your  own?"    With  a  (lash  in  her  eyes,  she 


234-   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

added :  "  How  dare  you  once  offer  what  you  did  to  a 
woman  you  had  no  trust  in  ?  " 

"  You  are  almost  cruel,"  Geoffrey  answered,  clenching 
his  hand  as  he  mastered  his  own  anger.  "  Some  day,  per- 
haps, you  will  yet  believe  I  tried  to  do  what  was  best. 
Meantime,  since  I  dare  not  presume  to  resent  it,  I  must 
try  to  bear  your  displeasure  patiently." 

He  might  have  said  more,  but  that  Helen  left  him 
abruptly. 

"It  is  confoundedly  hard.  Once  strike  a  certain  vein 
of  bad  luck  and  you  can  neither  get  around  nor  under  it, 
but  there's  no  use  groaning — and  what  on  earth  could  I 
have  done  ?  "  he  said  to  the  whispering  firs. 

He  went  back  presently  to  the  ranch,  and  found  Helen, 
who  apparently  did  not  notice  his  return,  chatting  with 
Halliday.  When  the  two  men  bade  their  host  farewell, 
Halliday,  who  lingered  a  few  minutes,  observed  to  Thomas 
Savine : 

"  I  always  knew  my  friend  was  reckless,  but  when  I 
spoke  as  I  did  I  failed  to  comprehend  what  was  at  once 
his  incentive  and  justification.  I  must  thank  you  for  your 
attempt  to  aid  me,  but  even  against  the  dictates  of  my 
judgment  I  can't  help  sympathizing  with  him  now.  If 
you  don't  mind  my  saying  so — because  I  see  you  know — I 
think  what  he  hopes  to  win  is  very  well  worth  the 
risk." 

"  I  certainly  know,  and  perhaps  I  am  prejudiced  in 
favor  of  my  niece,  but  I  feel  tempted  to  agree  with  you," 
answered  Savine.  "  There  are  few  better  women  in  the 
Dominion,  but  she  is  wayward,  and  whether  Geoffrey  will 
ever  win  her  only  Heaven  knows.  Meantime,  though  we 
depend  so  much  upon  him,  I  am  often  ashamed  to  let 
him  take  his  chances  with  us.  Believe  me,  I  have  en- 
deavored to  dissuade  him." 

Halliday  smiled.  "  I  am  a  kinsman  of  his  and  know 
him  well,"  he  said.     "  It  is  quite  in  keeping  with  tradi- 


A    REPRIEVE  235 

tions  that  he  should  be  perfectly  willing  to  ruin  himself 
for  a  woman,  and  I  am  at  least  thankful  that  the  woman 
proves  worthy.  In  this  case,  however,  I  venture  to  hope 
the  end  may  be  the  achievement  of  prosperity.  I  gener- 
ally speak  my  mind  and  hope  I  have  not  offended  you." 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

THE  ULTIMATUM 

Winter  creeping  clown  from  the  high  peaks  held  the 
whole  valley  fast  in  its  icy  grip  when  Mrs.  Thomas  Savine, 
who  was  seldom  daunted  by  the  elements,  went  up  from 
Vancouver  to  persuade  her  niece  to  seek  sheltered  quarters 
on  the  sunny  coast  until  spring.  Her  visit  was,  however, 
in  this  respect  a  failure,  for  Julius  Savine  insisted  upon 
remaining  within  touch  of  the  reclamation  works.  Though 
seldom  able  to  reach  them,  he  looked  eagerly  forward  to 
Geoffrey's  brief  visits,  which  alone  seemed  to  arouse  him 
from  his  lethargy. 

Mrs.  Savine  and  Helen  sat  in  the  general  living-room 
at  the  ranch  one  day  when  her  brother-in-law  came  in 
leaning  heavily  upon  his  partner's  arm.  Geoffrey  had  set 
his  carpenters  to  build  a  sleigh,  and  from  one  hill  shoulder 
bare  of  timber  it  was  possible,  with  good  glasses,  to  see 
what  went  on  in  the  canon.  Savine  was  listening  with  evi- 
dent satisfaction  to  the  tall,  frost-bronzed  man  who  led 
him  towards  the  room  that  he  delighted  to  call  his  office, 
and  Mrs.  Savine,  noticing  it,  smiled  gratefully  upon 
Geoffrey.  Worn  by  anxious  watching,  Helen  was  possibly 
a  little  out  of  humor  that  afternoon,  and  the  sight  awoke 
within  her  a  certain  jealousy.  She  had  done  her  best,  and 
had  done  it  very  patiently,  but  she  had  failed  to  arouse 
her  father  to  the  animation  he  showed  in  Geoffrey's  pres- 
ence. 

"  I  haven't  felt  so  well  since  I  saw  you  last,"  observed 
Savine,  oblivious  for  the  moment  of  his  daughter.  "  You 
won't  fail  to  come  back  as  soon  as  ever  you  can — say  the 
day  after  to-morrow  ?  " 

Geoffrey  glanced  towards  Helen,  who  made  no  sign,  and 
Mrs.  Savine  noticed  that  for  a  moment  his  face  clouded. 

236 


THE    ULTIMATUM  237 

Then,  as  he  turned  towards  his  partner,  he  seemed  to  make 
aD  effort,  and  his  expression  was  confident  again. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  leave  the  works  quite  so  often. 
Yes — we  are  progressing  at  least  as  well  as  anyone  could 
expect,"  he  said.  "  I  will  come  and  consult  you  whenever 
I  can.  In  fact,  there  are  several  points  I  want  your  ad- 
vice upon." 

"  Come  soon,"  urged  Savine,  with  a  sigh.  "  It  does  me 
good  to  talk  to  you — after  the  life  I've  lived,  this  everlast- 
ing loafing  comes  mighty  hard  to  me.  I  believe  once  I 
knew  we  were  victorious  I  could  let  go  everything  and  die 
happy." 

Helen  heard,  and,  overwrought  as  she  was  by  nights  of 
assiduous  care,  the  speech  both  pained  and  angered  her. 
Geoffrey's  answer  was  not  audible,  as  they  passed  on.  He 
came  back  alone,  off  his  guard  for  a  moment,  looking  worn 
and  weary,  and  Mrs.  Savine  said: 

"  You  are  tired,  Geoffrey,  and  if  you  don't  appear  more 
lively  next  time  I  will  attend  to  you.  No — don't  get 
seared.  It  is  not  physic  I'm  going  to  prescribe  now. 
Take  this  lounge  and  just  sit  here  where  it's  cosy.  Talk 
to  Helen  and  me  until  supper's  ready." 

Thurston  had  been  crawling  over  ice-crusted  rock?  and 
wading  knee-deep  in  water  most  of  the  preceding  night. 
The  chair  stood  temptingly  between  the  two  ladies  and 
near  the  stove.  He  glanced  towards  it  and  Helen  long- 
ingly.   Some  impulse  tempted  the  girl  to  say  : 

"Mr.  Thurston  has  usually  so  little  time  to  spare  that 
it  would  be  almost  too  much  to  hope  that  he  could  devote 
an  hour  to  us." 

The  tone  was  ironical,  and  Geoffrey,  excusing  himself, 
went  out.  lie  sighed  as  he  floundered  down  the  snow- 
cumbered  trail.  There  was  indignation  in  the  elder  lady's 
voice  as  she  declared  : 

"I  am  ashamed  of  you,  Helen.  The  poor  man  came  in 
too  late,  for  dinner,  and  he  must  be  Btarving.  If  you  had 
just  seen  how  he  looked  at  you !     You'd  feel  mean  and 


238      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

sorry  if  they  found  him  to-morrow  frozen  hard  in  the 
snow." 

Helen  could  not  fancy  Geoffrey  overcome  by  such  a 
journey  because  he  had  missed  two  meals,  and  she  smiled 
at  her  aunt's  dismal  picture,  answering  her  with  a  flip- 
pancy which  increased  the  elder  lady's  indignation,  "  Mr. 
Thurston  is  not  a  cannibal,  auntie." 

"  I  can't  figure  why  you  are  fooling  with  that  man  if 
you  don't  want  him,"  said  Mrs.  Savine.  "  Oh,  yes ;  you're 
going  to  sit  here  and  listen  to  some  straight  talking. 
Isn't  he  good  enough  for  you  ?  " 

Helen's  face  was  flushed  with  angry  color.  "  You  speak 
with  unpleasant  frankness,  but  I  will  endeavor  to  answer 
you,"  she  responded.  "  I  have  told  Mr.  Thurston — that  is, 
I  have  tried  to  warn  him  that  he  was  expecting  the  im- 
possible, and  what  more  could  I  do?  He  is  my  father's 
partner,  and  I  cannot  refuse  to  see  him.    I " 

Mrs.  Savine,  leaning  forward,  took  her  niece's  hands  in 
her  own,  saying  gravely,  "  Are  you  certain  it  is  quite  im- 
possible ? " 

For  a  moment  Helen  looked  startled,  and  her  eyes  fell. 
Then,  raising  her  head,  she  answered :  "  Have  I  not  told 
you  so?  I  have  been  anxious  about  my  father  lately  and 
do  not  feel  myself  to-day.  Surely  you  have  no  wish 
further  to  torment  me." 

"  No,  but  I  mean  to  finish  what  I  have  to  say.    Do  you 

know  all  that  man  is  doing  for  you?     He  has "   But 

Mrs.  Savine  ceased  abruptly,  remembering  she  had  in  re- 
turn for  her  husband's  confidence  promised  secrecy. 

"  Yes.  I  think  I  know  everything,"  replied  Helen, 
with  something  suspiciously  like  a  sob,  while  her  aunt 
broke  her  pledge  to  the  extent  of  shaking  her  head  with  a 
gesture  of  negation.  "  It — it  makes  it  worse  for  me.  I 
dare  not  bid  him  go  away,  and  I  grow  horribly  ashamed 
because — because  it  hurts  one  to  be  conscious  of  so  heavy 
a  debt.  Besides,  he  is  consoling  himself  with  Mrs. 
Leslie ! " 


THE    ULTIMATUM  239 

"Geoffrey  Thurston  would  be  the  last  man  to  consider 
37ou  owed  him  anything,  and  as  to  Mrs.  Leslie — pshaw ! 
It's  as  sure  as  death,  Geoffrey  doesn't  care  two  bits  for 
her.  He  would  never  let  you  feel  that  debt,  my  dear,  but 
the  debt  is  there.  From  what  Tom  has  told  me  he  has 
declined  offer  after  offer,  and  you  know  that,  if  he  carries 
this  last  scheme  through,  the  credit  and  most  of  the  money 
will  fall  to  your  father." 

"  I  know."  The  moisture  gathered  in  Helen's  eyes. 
"  I  am  grateful,  very  grateful — as  I  said,  ashamed,  too ; 
but  my  father  comes  first.  I  tried  to  warn  Geoffrey,  but 
he  would  not  take  no.  I  feel  almost  frightened  sometimes 
lest  he  will  force  me  to  yield  against  my  will,  but  you 
know  that  would  be  a  wrong  to  him — and  what  can  I 
do?" 

Helen,  unclasping  her  hands  from  her  aunt's,  looked 
straight  before  her,  and  Mrs.  Savine  answered  gently: 
"  Not  that.  No — if  you  can't  like  him  it  would  not 
be  fair  to  him.  Only  try  to  be  kind,  and  make  quite 
sure  it  is  impossible.  It  might  have  been  better  for  poor 
Geoffrey  if  he  had  never  mixed  himself  up  with  us.  You, 
with  all  your  good  points,  are  mighty  proud,  my  dear, 
but  I  have  seen  proud  women  find  out  their  mistake  when 
it  was  too  late  to  set  things  straight.  Wait,  and  with- 
out the  help  of  a  meddlesome  old  woman,  it  will  perhaps 
all  come  right  some  day." 

"Auntie,"  said  Helen,  looking  down,  some  minutes 
later.  "  Though  you  meant  it  in  kindness,  I  am  almost 
vexed  with  you.  I  have  never  spoken  of  these  things  to 
anyone  before,  and  though  it  has  comforted  me,  you  won't 
remind  me — will  you  ?  " 

"  No."  The  older  woman  smiled  upon  the  girl.  "  Of 
course  not!  But  you  are  pale  and  worried,  and  I  believe 
that  there  is  nothing  that  would  fix  you  better  than  a  few 
drops  of  the  elixir.     I  think  I  sent  you  a  Dew  bottle." 

Then,  though  her  eyes  were  misty,  Helen  laughed  out- 
right, as  she  replied: 


210      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

"  It  was  very  kind  of  you,  but  I  fear  I  lost  the  bottle, 
and  have  wasted  too  much  time  over  my  troubles.  What 
can  I  tempt  my  father  with  for  supper  ?  " 

When  Geoffrey  returned  to  camp,  Halliday,  who  had 
arrived  that  day  from  Vancouver,  had  much  to  tell  him. 

"  I've  sold  your  English  property,  and  the  value  lies 
to  your  credit  in  the  B.  0.  M.  agency.  All  you  have  to 
do  is  to  draw  upon  your  account,"  he  said.  "  As  you  in- 
tend to  sink  the  money  in  these  works  I  can  only  wish 
you  the  best  of  good  luck.  Now,  I'm  starting  for  home 
to-morrow,  and  there's  the  other  question — how  to  protect 
the  interests  of  Mrs.  Leslie.  Anthony  Thurston  made  a 
just  will,  and  her  share,  while  enough  to  maintain  her,  is 
not  a  large  one,  but  I  don't  see  yet  just  how  it's  to  be 
handled.  It  was  the  testator's  special  wish  that  you 
should  join  the  trustees,  and  that  her  husband  should  not 
lay  his  hands  upon  a  dollar.  From  careful  inquiries 
made  in  Vancouver,  I  judge  he's  a  distinctly  bad  lot. 
Anyway,  you'll  have  to  help  us  in  the  meantime,  Geoffrey, 
and  in  opening  a  small  bank  account  I  made  your  signa- 
ture necessary  on  every  check." 

"  It's  a  confoundedly  unpleasant  position  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. What  on  earth  could  my  kinsman  have  been 
thinking  of  when  he  forced  it  upon  me  of  all  men  ? " 
Geoffrey  responded  with  a  rueful  face.  "  Still,  I  owe  him 
a  good  deal,  and  suppose  that  I  must  cheerfully  acquiesce 
to  his  wishes." 

"  I  cannot  take  upon  myself  to  determine  what  the 
testator  thought,"  was  the  dry  answer.  "  He  said  the 
estimable  Mr.  Leslie  might  either  shoot  or  drink  himself 
to  death  some  day.  The  late  Anthony  Thurston  was  a 
tenacious  person,  and  you  must  draw  your  own  conclu- 


sions." 


'•  I  f  there  was  one  thing  which  more  than  another 
tempti  'i  me  to  refuse  you  every  scrap  of  assistance  it  was 
the  conclusion  I  arrived  at,"    said   Geoffrey.     "  However, 


THE    ULTIMATUM  24,1 

I'll  try  to  keep  faith  with  the  dead  man,  and  Heaven  send 
me  sense  sufficient  to  steer  clear  of  difficulties." 

"  I  can  trust  your  honesty  any  way,"  remarked  Halli- 
day.  "  There's  a  heavy  load  off  my  mind  at  last.  You 
are  a  good  fellow,  Geoffrey,  and,  excuse  the  frankness, 
even  in  questions  beyond  your  usual  scope  not  so  simple 
as  you  sometimes  look." 

A  day  or  two  before  this  conversation  took  place,  Henry 
Leslie,  sitting  at  his  writing-table  in  the  villa  above  the 
inlet,  laid  down  his  pen  and  looked  up  gratefully  at  his 
wife,  who  placed  a  strip  of  stamped  paper  before  him. 
Millicent  both  smiled  and  frowned  as  she  noticed  how 
greedily  his  fingers  fastened  upon  it. 

"  It  is  really  very  good  of  you.  You  don't  know  how 
much  this  draft  means  to  me,"  he  said.  "  I  wish  I 
needn't  take  it,  but  I  am  forced  to.  It's  practically  the 
whole  of  the  first  dole  your  skinflint  trustee  made  you, 
isn't  it?" 

"  It  is  a  large  share,"  was  the  answer.  "  Almost  a 
year's  allowance,  and  I'm  going  to  pay  off  our  most  press- 
ing debts  with  the  rest.  But  I  am  glad  to  give  it  to  you, 
Harry,  and  we  must  try  to  be  better  friends,  and  keep  on 
the  safe  side  after  this." 

"  I  hope  we  shall,"  replied  the  man,  who  was  touched 
for  once.  "  It's  tolerably  hard  for  folks  like  us,  who 
must  go  when  the  devil  drives,  to  be  virtuous,  but  I  got 
hold  of  a  few  mining  shares,  which  promise  to  pay  well 
now,  for  almost  nothing;  and  if  they  turn  up  trumps,  I'd 
feel  greatly  tempted  to  throw  over  the  Company  and  start 
afresh." 

He  hurriedly  scribbled  a  little  note,  and  Millicent 
turned  away  with  a  smile  that  was  not  far  from  a  sigh. 
She  had  returned  from  England  in  a  repentant  mood,  and 
her  husband,  whose  affairs  had  gone  smoothly,  was  almost 
considerate,  so  that,  following  a  reconciliation,  there  were 
times  when  she  cherished  an  uncertain  hope  that  they 
might  struggle  back  to  their  former  level.     It  was  on  one 


242   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

of  the  occasions  when  their  relations  were  not  altogether 
inharmonious  that  she  had  promised  to  give  him  a  draft  to 
redeem  the  loan  Director  Shackleby  held  like  a  whip  lash 
over  him.  Had  Leslie  been  a  bolder  man,  it  is  possible 
that  his  wife's  aspirations  might  have  been  realized,  for 
Millicent  was  not  impervious  to  good  influences. 

Unfortunately  for  her,  however,  a  free-spoken  man 
called  Shackleby,  who  said  that  he  had  been  sent  by  his 
colleagues  who  managed  the  Industrial  Enterprise  Com- 
pany, called  upon  Thurston  and  Savine  together  in  their 
city  offices.  He  came  straight  to  the  point  after  the 
fashion  of  Western  business  men. 

"  Julius  Savine  has  rather  too  big  a  stake  in  the 
Orchard  Valley  for  any  one  man,"  he  said.  "  It's  ancient 
history  that  if,  as  usual  with  such  concerns  as  ours,  we 
hadn't  been  a  day  or  two  too  slow,  we  would  have  held 
the  concessions  instead  of  him.  Neither  need  I  tell  you 
about  the  mineral  indications  in  both  the  reefs  and 
alluvial.  Now  we  saw  our  way  to  rake  a  good  many 
dollars  out  of  that  valley,  but  when  Savine  got  in  ahead 
we  just  sat  tight  and  watched  him,  ready  to  act  if  he 
found  the  undertaking  too  big  for  him.  It  seems  to  me 
that  has  happened,  which  explains  my  visit  to-day.  We 
might  be  open  to  buy  some  of  those  conditional  lands 
from  you." 

"  They  may  never  be  ours  to  sell,  though  I  hope  for 
the  contrary,"  Geoffrey  replied. 

"  Exactly,"  said  the  other.  "  That  is  why  we're  only 
ready  to  offer  you  out-district  virgin  forest  value  for  the 
portions  colored  blue  in  this  plan.  In  other  words,  we 
speculate  by  advancing  you  money  on  very  uncertain 
security." 

Geoffrey  laughed  after  a  glance  at  the  plan.  "  You 
have  a  pretty  taste!  After  giving  you  all  the  best  for  a 
tithe  of  its  future  value,  whore  do  we  come  in?  " 

"  On  the  rest,"  declared  Shackleby,  coolly.  "  We  would 
pay  down  the  money  now,  and  advance  you  enough  on 


THE    ULTIMATUM  243 

interest  to  place  you  beyond  all  risks  in  completing  opera- 
tions. Though  you  might  get  more  for  the  land,  with- 
out this  assistance,  you  might  get  nothing,  and  it  will  be 
a  pretty  heavy  check.  I  suppose  I  needn't  say  it  was  not 
until  lately  that  we  decided  to  meet  you  this  way." 

"  By  your  leave ! "  broke  in  Thomas  Savine,  who  had 
been  scribbling  figures  on  a  scrap  of  paper,  which  he 
passed  to  Geoffrey.  It  bore  a  few  lines  scrawled  across 
the  foot  of  it:  "Value  absurdly  low,  but  it  might  be  a 
good  way  to  hedge  against  total  loss,  and  we  could  level 
up  the  average  on  the  rest.     What  do  you  think  ?  " 

Geoffrey  grasped  a  pen,  and  the  paper  went  back  with 
the  brief  answer,  "  That  it  would  be  a  willful  sacrifice  of 
Miss  Savine's  future." 

"  Suppose  we  refuse  ?  "  he  asked,  and  Shackleby  stroked 
his  mustache  meditatively  before  he  made  answer: 

"  Don't  you  think  that  would  be  foolish  ?  You  see,  we 
were  not  unanimous  by  a  long  way  on  this  policy,  and 
several  of  our  leaders  agree  with  me  that  we  had  better 
stick  to  our  former  one.  It's  a  big  scheme,  and  accidents 
will  happen,  however  careful  one  may  be.  Then  there's 
the  risk  of  new  conditions  being  imposed  upon  you  by  the 
authorities.  Besides,  you  have  a  time  limit  to  finish  in, 
and  mightn't  do  it,  especially  without  the  assistance  we 
could  in  several  ways  render  you.  You  can't  have  a  great 
many  dollars  left  either — see  ?  " 

"  I  do,"  said  Geoffrey,  with  an  ominous  glitter  in  his 
eyes.  "  You  needn't  speak  more  plainly.  Accidents,  no 
doubt  of  the  kind  you  refer  to,  have  happened  already. 
They  have  not,  however,  stopped  us  yet,  and  are  not  going 
to.  I,  of  course,  appreciate  your  delicate  reference  to  your 
former  policy;  I  conclude  it  was  your  policy  individually. 
I  don't  like  threats,  even  veiled  ones,  and  nobody  ever 
succeeded  in  coercing  me.  Accordingly,  when  we  have 
drained  it,  we'll  sell  you  all  tin1  hind  you  want  at  its 
market  value.  You  can't  have  an  acre  at  anything  like 
the  price  you  offer  now." 


244   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  That's  your  ultimatum.  Yes  ?  Then  I'm  only  wast- 
ing time,  and  hope  you  won't  be  sorry,"  returned 
Shaekleby.  When  he  went  out  Geoffrey  turned  to  Thomas 
Savine. 

"  A  declared  enemy  is  preferable  to  a  treacherous  ally," 
he  observed  dryly.  "  That  man  would  never  have  kept 
faith  with  us." 

"  I  don't  know,"  was  the  answer.  "  Of  course,  he's 
crooked,  but  he  has  his  qualities.  Anyway,  I'd  sooner 
trust  him  than  the  invertebrate  crawler,  Leslie." 

A  day  or  two  later  Shaekleby  called  upon  Leslie  in  his 
offices  and  with  evident  surprise  received  the  check  Milli- 
cent  had  given  to  her  husband. 

"  I  wasn't  in  any  hurry.  Have  some  of  your  titled  rel- 
atives in  the  old  country  left  you  a  fortune?  "  he  inquired 
ironically. 

"  No,"  was  the  answer.  "  My  folks  are  mostly  dis- 
tinctly poor  commoners.  I,  well — I  have  been  rather  for- 
tunate lately." 

"  Here's  your  receipt,"  said  Shaekleby,  with  an  em- 
barrassing stare,  adding  when  Leslie,  after  examining  it 
carefully,  thrust  the  paper  into  the  glowing  stove,  "  Care- 
ful man!  Nobody  is  going  to  get  ahead  of  you,  but 
can't  you  see  that  blame  paper  couldn't  have  made  a 
cent's  worth  of  difference  between  you  and  me.  Well,  if 
you  still  value  your  connection  with  the  Company,  I 
have  something  to  tell  you.  That  infernal  idiot  Thurs- 
ton won't  hear  of  making  terms,  and,  as  you  know,  there's 
a  fortune  waiting  if  we  can  corral  the  valley." 

"I  can  see  the  desirability,  but  not  the  means  of  ac- 
complishing it,"  replied  Leslie. 

"  No !  "  and  the  speaker  glanced  at  him  scornfully. 
"Well,  Thurston  must  finish  by  next  summer,  or  his  con- 
ditional grants  are  subject  to  revision,  while  it's  quite 
plain  he  can  only  work  in  the  canon  in  winter.  Some- 
thing in  the  accident  line  has  got  to  happen." 

"  It  failed  before."     Shaekleby  laughed. 


THE    ULTIMATUM  245 


( e 


What's  the  matter  with  trying  again,  and  keeping  on 
trying?  I've  got  influence  enough  to  double  your  salary 
if  Thurston  doesn't  get  through.  It  will  be  tolerably 
easy,  for  this  time  I  don't  count  on  trusting  too  much  to 
you.  I'll  send  you  along  a  man  and  you'll  just  make  a 
bet  with  him — we'll  fix  the  odds  presently  and  they'll  be 
heavy  against  us — that  Thurston  successfully  completes 
the  job  in  the  canon.  The  other  man  bets  he  doesn't. 
When  it  appears  judicious  we'll  contrive  something  to 
draw  Thurston  away  for  a  night  or  two." 

"But  if  you  know  the  man,  and  it's  so  easy,  why  not 
make  the  bet  yourself  ?  "     Shackleby  smiled  pleasantly. 

"  Because  I'm  not  secretary  hoping  to  get  my  salary 
doubled  and  a  land  bonus.  There  are  other  reasons,  but 
I  don't  want  to  hurt  your  feelings  any  more  than  I  wish 
to  lacerate  those  of  my  worthy  colleagues.  They'll  ask  no 
questions  and  only  pass  a  resolution  thanking  you  for  your 
zealous  services.  Nothing  is  going  to  slip  up  the  wrong 
way,  but  if  it  did  you  could  only  lose  your  salary,  and 
I'd  see  you  safe  on  the  way  to  Mexico  with  say  enough 
to  start  a  store,  and  you  would  be  no  worse  off  than  before, 
because  I  figure  you'd  lose  the  berth  unless  you  chip  in 
with  me." 

Leslie  realized  that  this  might  well  be  so,  but  he  made 
a  last  attempt.  "  Suppose  in  desperation  I  turned  round 
on  you  ?  " 

"  I'd  strike  you  for  defamation  and  conspiracy,  publish 
certain  facts  in  your  previous  record,  and  nobody  would 
believe  you,  or  dare  to  say  so.  Besides,  you  haven't  got 
grit  enough  in  you  by  a  long  way.  and  that's  why  I'm 
taking  your  consent  for  granted.  By  the  way,  I  forgot 
to  mention  that  confounded  Britisher  raked  an  extra  hun- 
dred dollars  out  of  me.  Said  I'd  got  to  pay  for  his  travel- 
ing and  hotel  expenses.  I'm  not  charging  you,  Leslie, 
and  you  ought  to  feel  grateful  to  me." 


CHAPTEE   XXIV 

AN  UNEXPECTED  ALLY 

Winter  was  drawing  towards  its  close  at  last,  when,  on 
the  evening  of  a  day  in  which  the  result  of  a.  heavy 
blasting  charge  had  exceeded  his  utmost  expectations, 
Geoffrey  Thurston  stood  beside  his  foreman  in  his  work- 
men's mess  shanty.  Tin  lamps  hung  from  the  beams 
blackened  with  smoke,  and  sturdy  men  were  finishing 
their  six  o'clock  supper  beneath  them.  The  men  were  the 
pick  of  the  province,  for,  until  tempted  by  the  contractor's 
high  wages,  most  of  them  had  been  engaged  in  laying 
the  foundations  of  its  future  greatness  by  wresting  new 
spaces  for  corn  and  cattle  from  the  forest.  They  ate,  as 
they  worked,  heroically.  The  supper  was  varied  and 
bountiful,  for  Geoffrey,  who  was  conscious  of  a  thrill  of 
pride  as  he  glanced  down  the  long  rows  of  weather-beaten 
faces,  fed  his  workmen  well.  They  had  served  him  faith- 
fully through  howling  gale  and  long  black  night,  under 
scorching  sun  and  bitter  frost,  and  now  that  the  result 
of  that  day's  operations  had  brought  the  end  of  the  work 
in  sight,  there  was  satisfaction  in  the  knowledge  that  he 
had  led  such  men. 

"  They're  a  fine  crowd,  Tom,  and  I'll  be  sorry  to  part 
with  them,"  he  said.  "  It's  hard  to  believe,  after  all  we 
have  struggled  with,  that  less  than  three  weeks  will  see 
us  through,  but  I'd  give  many  dollars  for  every  hour  we 
can  reduce  the  time  by.  Send  for  a  keg  of  the  hardest 
cider  and  I'll  tell  them  so." 

There  was  applause  when  the  keg  was  lifted  to  the  table 
with  its  head  knocked  in.  Geoffrey,  who  had  filled  a  tin 
dipper,  said:  "Here's  my  best  thanks  for  the  way  you 
have  backed  me,  boys.  Since  they  carried  the  railroad 
across   Beaver   Creek,    few    men    in   the   province   have 

246 


AN    UNEXPECTED    ALLY  247 

grappled  as  you  have  with  a  task  like  this;  but  it's 
sometimes  just  possible  to  go  a  little  better  than  what 
looks  like  one's  best,  and  I'm  asking  as  a  favor  from  all  of 
you  that  you  will  redouble  your  efforts.  I  estimate  that 
we'll  finish  this  tough  section  in  eighteen  days  from  now, 
but  I  want  the  work  done  in  less  time,  and  accordingly 
I'll  promise  a  bonus  to  every  man  if  we  can  fire  the  last 
big  shot  a  fortnight  from  to-day." 

"  Stan'  by ! "  shouted  a  big  section  foreman,  as  he  hove 
himself  upright.  "  Fill  every  can  up  an'  wait  until  I've 
finished.  Now,  Mr.  Thurston,  I'm  talking  for  the  rest. 
You've  paid  us  good  wages,  an'  we've  earned  them,  every 
cent,  though  that  wasn't  much  to  our  credit,  for  Tom  from 
Mattawa  saw  we  did.  Still,  even  dollars  won't  buy  every- 
thing, and  what  you  can't  pay  us  for  we're  ready  to  give. 
If  flesh  an'  blood  can  do  it,  a  fortnight  will  see  us  through, 
an'  the  next  contract  you  take,  if  it's  to  wipe  out  the 
coast  range  or  run  off  the  Pacific,  we're  coming  along  with 
you.  I've  nailed  you  to  the  bargain,  boys,  an'  here's — 
The  Boss,  victorious,  an'  to with  his  bonus ! " 

The  long  shanty  rang  to  the  roar  that  followed,  and, 
when  it  died  away,  Geoffrey,  who  set  down  his  can,  turned 
to  his  foreman. 

"  Who  is  the  little  man  next  to  Walla  Jake  ?  "  he  asked. 

"An  old  partner  of  his  from  Oregon.  Came  in  one 
day  when  you  were  away,  and,  as  Jake  allowed  he  was  a 
square  man,  I  took  him  on.  Found  him  worth  his  money, 
and  fancied  I'd  told  you." 

"  You  did  not,"  said  Geoffrey.  "  Jake's  quite  trust- 
worthy, but  watch  the  stranger  well.  No  doubt  he's 
honest,  but  I'm  getting  nervous  now  we're  so  near  the 
end." 

The  foreman  answered  reassuringly,  and  Geoffrey,  who 
turned  away,  rode  beneath  the  snow-sprinkled  firs  to 
Savine's  ranch.  It  was  late  when  he  reached  it,  but  his 
partner  and  Helen  were  expecting  him.  Savine  sighed 
with  satisfaction  when  Geoff rav  said: 


248   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  In  all  probability  we  shall  fire  the  decisive  shot  a 
fortnight  from  to-day." 

"  It  is  great  news,"  replied  Julius  Savine.  "  As  I  have 
said  already,  it  was  a  lucky  day  for  me — and  mine — 
when  I  first  fell  in  with  you.  Two  more  anxious  weeks 
and  then  the  suspense  will  be  over  and  I  can  contentedly 
close  my  career.  Lord !  it  will  be  well  worth  the  living 
for — the  consummation  of  the  most  daring  scheme  ever 
carried  out  in  the  Mountain  Province.  I  won't  see  your 
next  triumph,  Geoffrey,  but  it  can  hardly  be  greater  than 
this  you  have  won  for  me." 

"  You  exaggerate,  sir,"  said  Geoffrey.  "  It  was  you 
who  won  the  concession  and  overcame  all  the  initial  diffi- 
culties, while  we  would  never  have  gone  so  far  without 
your  assistance.  Such  a  task  would  have  been  far  beyond 
me  alone." 

"  No — though  it  is  good  of  you  to  say  so.  There  were 
times  when  I  tried  to  fancy  I  was  running  the  contract, 
but  that  was  just  a  sick  man's  craze.  You  have  played 
out  the  game  well  and  bravely,  Geoffrey,  as  only  a  true 
man  could.  Perhaps  Helen  will  thank  you — just  now  I 
don't  feel  quite  equal  to  it." 

Savine's  voice  broke  a  little,  and  he  glanced  at  Helen, 
who  sat  very  still  with  downcast  eyes.  Geoffrey  also 
looked  at  her  for  a  second,  and  his  elation  was  tinged  with 
bitterness.  He  could  see  that  she  was  troubled,  and, 
with  a  pang  of  sudden  misgiving,  he  watched  her  anxiously. 
Without  the  one  prize  he  had  striven  for,  the  victory 
would  be  barren  to  him.  Still,  he  desired  to  save  her  em- 
barrassment, and  when  she  raised  her  head  to  obey  her 
father,  he  broke  in: 

"  Miss  Savine  can  place  me  under  an  obligation  by 
firing  the  fateful  charge  instead.  It  was  her  first  com- 
mission which  brought  good  luck  to  me,  and  it  is  only 
lilting  she  should  complete  the  result  of  it  by  turning  the 
firing  key." 

Helen's   eyes   expressed  her  gratitude,   as,   consenting, 


AN    UNEXPECTED    ALLY  249 

she  turned  them  upon  the  speaker.     Geoffrey  rising  to  the 
occasion,  said : 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  the  story  of  the  first  contract  I  un- 
dertook in  British  Columbia,  sir?  May  I  tell  it  to  your 
father,  Miss  Savine  ?  " 

Helen  was  quick  to  appreciate  his  motive,  and  allowed 
him  to  see  it.  While,  seizing  the  opportunity  to  change 
the  subject,  Geoffrey  told  the  story  whimsically.  Humor 
was  not  his  strong  point,  but  he  was  capable  of  brilliancy 
just  then.  Julius  Savine  laughed  heartily,  and  when  the 
tale  was  finished  all  had  settled  down  to  their  normal 
manner.  When  Geoffrey  took  his  leave,  however,  Helen 
followed  him  to  the  veranda,  and  held  out  her  hand.  She 
stood  close  to  him  with  the  moonlight  full  upon  her,  and 
it  was  only  by  an  effort  that  the  man  who  gripped  the 
slender  fingers,  conquered  his  desire  to  draw  her  towards 
him.  Helen  never  had  looked  so  desirable.  Then  he 
dropped  her  hand,  and  stood  impassively  still,  waiting  for 
what  she  had  to  say. 

"  I  could  not  thank  you  before  my  father,  but  neither 
could  I  let  you  go  without  a  word,"  she  said,  with  a  quiet 
composure  which,  because  she  must  have  guessed  at  the 
struggle  within  him,  was  the  badge  of  courage.  "  You 
have  won  my  undying  gratitude,  and " 

"  That  is  a  great  deal,  very  well  worth  the  winning," 
he  responded.  "  It  will  be  one  pleasant  memory  to  carry 
away  with  me." 

"  To  carry  with  you  !  You  are  not  going  away  ?  "  asked 
Helen,  with  an  illogical  sense  of  dismay,  which  was  not, 
however,  in  the  least  apparent.  She  knew  that  any  Bign 
of  feeling  would  provoke  the  crisis  from  which  she 
shrank. 

"  Yes,"  declared  Geoffrey.  "  Once  this  work  is  com- 
pleted, I  shall  seek  another  field." 

"You  must  not!"  Though  her  voice  was  strained, 
Helen,  who  dared  not  do  otherwise,  looked  him  Bteadily 
in  the  eyes.     "  You  must  not  go.     2s ow,  when,  if  you  stay 


250      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

in  the  Province,  fame  and  prosperity  lie  within  your  grasp 
you  will  not  overwhelm  me  by  adding  to  the  knowledge 
of  all  I  have  robbed  you  of.  It  is  hard  for  rne  to  express 
myself  plainly — but  I  dare  not  take  this  from  you,  too." 

"  Can  you  not  guess  how  hard  it  all  is  for  me  ?  "  He 
strode  a  few  paces  apart  from  her  while  the  words  fell 
from  his  lips.  Then  he  halted  again  and  turned  towards 
her. 

"  I  had  not  meant  to  distress  you — but  how  can  I  go 
on  seeing  you  so  near  me,  hearing  your  voice,  when  every 
word  and  smile  stir  up  a  longing  that  at  times  almost 
maddens  me?  What  I  have  done  I  did  for  you,  and  did 
it  gladly,  but  this  new  command  I  cannot  obey.  Fame 
and  prosperity !  What  are  either  worth  to  me  when  the 
one  thing  I  would  sell  my  life  for  is,  you  have  told  me, 
not  to  be  attained  ?  " 

"  I  am  sorry,"  faltered  Helen,  whose  breath  came  faster. 
"  More  sorry  than  I  can  well  express.  I  dare  not  ruin  a 
bright  future  for  you.  Is  there  nothing  I  can  say  that 
will  prevent  you  ?  " 

"  Only  one  thing,"  Geoffrey  moving  nearer  looked  down 
upon  her  until  his  gaze  impelled  Helen  to  lift  her  eyes. 
There  was  no  longer  any  trace  of  passion  in  his  face, 
which  in  spite  of  its  firm  lines  had  grown  gentle. 

"  Only  one  thing,"  he  repeated.  "  Please  listen — it  is 
necessary,  even  if  it  hurts  you.  I  cannot  blame  you  for 
my  own  folly,  but  my  love  is  incurable.  You  are  a  dutiful 
daughter,  with  an  almost  exaggerated  idea  of  justice,  and 
I  know  the  power  circumstances  give  me.  Still,  I  am 
so  covetous  that  I  must  have  all  or  nothing;  I  love  you  so 
that  I  dare  not  use  the  advantage  chance  has  given  me. 
Nevertheless,  I  will  not  despair  even  yet,  and  some  day 
when,  perhaps,  absence  has  hidden  some  of  my  many 
shortcomings,  I  will  come  back  and  beg  speech  with 
you." 

"  You  are  very  generous."  The  words  vibrated  witli 
sincerity.       "  Once — always — I     have     cruelly     wronged 


AN    UNEXPECTED    ALLY  251 

you "  but  here  Geoffrey  raised  his  hand  and  looked  at 

the  girl  with  a  wry  smile  that  had  no  mirth  in  it. 

"  You  have  never  wronged  me,  Miss  Savine.  Once  you 
spoke  with  a  marvelous  accuracy,  and  I  am  not  generous, 
only  so  unusually  wise  that  you  must  have  inspired  me.  I 
cannot  be  content  with  less  than  the  best,  and  what  that 
is — again,  if  I  am  brutal  you  must  remember  I  cannot 
help  my  nature — I  will  tell  you." 

He  stooped,  and,  before  she  realized  his  intentions, 
deftly  caught  Helen's  hands  in  each  of  his  own,  tighten- 
ing his  grip  on  them  masterfully,  until  he  forced  her  to 
look  up  at  him.  Helen  trembled  as  she  met  his  eyes. 
The  man  had  spoken  no  more  than  the  truth  when  he 
said  he  could  not  help  his  nature,  and,  suddenly  trans- 
formed, it  was  the  former  Geoffrey  Thurston  she  had 
shrunk  from  who  held  her  fast. 

"  Yes,  I  am  wise.  I  know  I  could  bend  you  to  my  will 
now,  and  that  afterwards  you  would  hate  me  for  it,"  he 
told  her.  "  I — I  would  not  take  you  so,  not  if  you  came 
to  me.  Further,  for  we  have  dropped  all  disguises,  and 
face  the  naked  truth,  I  have  striven,  and  starved,  and 
suffered  for  you,  risked  my  life  often — and  you  shall  not 
cheat  me  of  my  due,  which  alone  is  why,  because  my  time 
is  not  come  yet,  I  shall  go  away.  The  one  reward  that 
will  satisfy  me  is  this,  that  of  your  own  will  you  will  once 
more  hold  my  hands  and  say,  '  I  love  you,  Geoffrey  Thurs- 
ton,' and  I  can  wait  with  patience — for  you  will  come  to 
me  thus  some  day." 

He  bent  his  head ;  and  Helen  felt  her  heart  leap ;  but  it 
was  only  her  fingers  upon  which  his  lips  burned  hot.  The 
next  moment  he  had  gone,  while  leaning  breathless  against 
the  balustrade  she  gazed  after  him. 

Geoffrey  did  not  glance  behind  him  until,  when  some 
distance  from  the  ranch,  he  reined  his  horse  in,  and  wiped 
his  forehead.  He  had  yielded  at  last  to  an  uncontrollable 
impulse  which  was  perhaps  part  of  his  inheritance  from 
the  old  moss  troopers,  who  had  carried  off  their  brides  on 


252   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

the  crupper.  As  he  walked  his  horse,  a  muffled  beat  of 
hoofs  came  up  the  trail,  and  he  fancied  he  heard  a  voice 
say :     "  The  twentieth — I'll  be  ready." 

Then  a  mounted  figure  appearing  for  a  moment,  van- 
ished among  the  firs.  Geoffrey,  turning  back  to  camp, 
noticed  that  beside  the  hollows  the  hoofs  had  made,  there 
was  the  print  of  human  feet  in  the  powdery  snow. 

"  There  is  nothing  to  bring  any  rancher  down  this  way, 
and  a  man  must  have  walked  beside  the  rider,"  he  specu- 
lated. "  "Who  on  earth  could  it  be  ? "  Dismissing  the 
incident  from  his  mind,  he  went  on  his  way.  It  was  only 
afterwards  that  the  significance  of  the  footprints  became 
apparent. 

There  was  a  light  in  Geoffrey's  quarters  when  at  last 
he  approached  them,  and  the  foreman  met  him  at  the 
door.  "  That  blame  waster,  Black,  has  come  back.  Eode 
in  quietly  after  dark,  and  none  of  the  boys  have  set  eyes 
on  him,"  he  said;  and,  noting  his  master's  surprise,  he 
added  with  a  chuckle,  "  I  put  him  in  there  for  safety, 
and  waited  right  here  to  take  care  of  him." 

Geoffrey  went  into  the  shanty,  carefully  closed  the  door, 
and  turned  somewhat  sternly  upon  the  visitor.  Black's 
outer  appearance  suggested  a  degree  of  prosperity,  but  his 
face  was  anxious  as  he  said,  "  I  guess  you're  surprised 
to  see  me  ?  " 

"  I  am,"  was  the  answer.  "  In  view  of  the  fact  that  it 
is  my  duty  to  hand  you  over  to  the  nearest  magistrate,  my 
surprise  is  hardly  astonishing." 

"No,"  agreed  Black,  "it  is  not.  Still,  I  don't  think 
you'll  surrender  me.  Anyway,  you've  got  to  listen  to  a 
little  story  first.  You  didn't  hear  the  whole  of  it  last 
time.     I  figure  I  can  trust  you  to  do  the  square  thing." 

"  Be  quick,  then."  Geoffrey  leaned  against  the  table 
while  his  visitor  began : 

"  You've  heard  of  the  Blue  Bird  mine,  and  how  one  of 
the  men  who  relocated  the  lapsed  claim  was  found  in  the 
river  with  a  gash,  which  a  rock  might  have  made,  in  the, 
back  of  his  head?     Of  course  you  have.     Well,  it  was  me 


AN    UNEXPECTED    ALLY  253 

and  Rob  Morgan  who  located  the  Blue  Bird.  Morgan 
was  a  good  prospector,  but  the  indications  were  hazy,  and 
he  got  drunk  when  he  could.  I  knew  mighty  little  of 
minerals,  and  we  done  nothing  with  it  until  the  time  to 
put  in  our  legal  improvements  was  nearly  up.  Then 
Morgan  struck  rich  pay  ore,  and  we  worked  night  and 
day.  But  we  weren't  quite  quick  enough — one  night  two 
jumpers  pulled  our  stakes  up.  Oh,  yes,  they  had  the  law 
behind  them,  for  says  the  Crown,  '  Unless  you've  developed 
your  claim  within  the  legal  limit,  it  lapses;  and  any  free 
miner  can  relocate.' " 

"  Come  to  the  point,"  said  Thurston.     "  I'm  sleepy." 

"I'm  coming,"  Black  continued;  "Morgan  had  no 
grit.  He  got  on  to  the  whiskey,  and  talked  about  shoot- 
ing himself.  I  swore  I'd  shoot  the  first  of  the  other  crowd 
who  set  foot  on  the  claim  instead,  and  half  the  boys  who 
started  driving  pegs  all  round  us  heard  me.  There  was 
a  doubt  as  to  whether  the  jumpers  had  hit  the  time  putting 
their  stakes  in,  and  the  boys  were  most  for  me,  but  as 
usual  the  thieves  had  a  man  with  money  behind  them. 
His  name  was  Shackleby." 

"  Ah !  I  begin  to  understand  things  now,"  said 
Geoffrey. 

"  I  was  sitting  alone  in  my  tent  at  night  when  one  of 
them  jumpers  came  in,"  Black  went  on,  unheeding.  "  All 
the  rest  were  sleeping,  and  the  bush  was  very  still.  He'd 
a  roll  of  dollar  bills  to  give  me  if  I'd  light  out  quietly. 
Said  I'd  nothing  to  stand  on,  but  the  man  behind  him 
didn't  want  to  figure  in  the  papers  if  it  went  to  court. 
Well,  I  wouldn't  take  the  money,  and  ran  him  out  of  my 
tent.  When  he  touched  his  pistol,  I  had  an  ax  in  my 
hand,  and  it  was  a  poor  man's  hick  that  one  of  the  boys 
must  come  along.  When  he'd  slouched  off,  I  began  to 
hanker  for  the  money,  went  after  the  jumper  to  see  if  I 
could  raise  his  price,  missed  him  and  came  back  again, 
but  I  struck  his  tracks  in  the  mud  beside  a  creek,  with 
another  man's  hoof-marks  behind  them.  Well,  next 
morning  that  jumper   was  found  in  the  river  with  no 


254-   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

money  in  his  wallet,  and  the  boys  looked  black  at  me  until 
I  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Shackleby.  He'd  fixed  the 
whole  thing  up  good  enough  to  hang  me,  and  nailed  me 
down  to  blame  hard  terms  as  the  price  of  my  liberty. 
You're  getting  tired — no?  Shackleby  got  the  Blue  Bird, 
and  kept  his  claws  on  me  until  his  man,  Leslie,  sent  me 
up  to  bust  your  machines;  but  Shackleby  has  worn  me 
thin,  until  I'm  ready  to  stand  my  trial  sooner  than  run 
any  more  of  his  mean  jobs  for  him;  and  now,  to  cut 
the  long  end  off,  do  you  believe  me  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  do,"  replied  Geoffrey.  "  What  made  you 
bolt  from  here,  and  what  do  you  want  from  me?  Is  it 
the  same  promise  as  before?" 

Black  related  the  incidents  of  his  abduction.  He  raised 
his  right  hand  with  a  dramatic  gesture  as  he  concluded: 
"  As  I  have  been  a  liar,  this  is  gospel  truth,  s'help  me. 
Whoever  killed  that  jumper — and  I  figure  Shackleby  knows 
— it  wasn't  me.  The  night  you  fished  me  out  of  the  river 
I  said,  '  Here's  a  man  with  sand  enough  to  stand  right  up 
to  Shackleb}r,'  and  I'll  make  a  deal  with  you." 

"  The  terms  ?  "  said  Geoffrey. 

"  Bather  better  than  before.  On  your  part,  a  smart 
lawyer  to  take  my  case  if  Shackleby  sets  the  police  on  me. 
On  mine — with  you  behind  me,  I  can  tell  a  story  that  will 
bring  two  Companies  down  on  Shackleby.  What  brought 
me  to  the  scratch  now  was,  that  I  read  in  The  Colonist 
that  you'd  be  through  shortly,  and  I  guessed  Shackleby's 
insect,  Leslie,  would  have  another  shot  at  you.  I'm  open 
to  take  my  chances  of  hanging  to  get  even  with  them." 

The  mingled  fear  and  hatred  in  the  speaker's  face  was 
certainly  genuine,  and  Geoffrey  said  briefly:  "If  I 
thought  you  guilty,  I'd  slip  irons  on  to  you.  As  it  is,  I'm 
willing  to  close  that  deal.  You'll  have  to  take  my  word 
and  lie  quiet,  until  you're  wanted,  where  I  hide  you." 

"  I  guess  that  is  good  enough  for  me,"  Black  declared 
exultantly. 


CHAPTEE    XXV 


millicent's  revolt 


"  I  really  feel  mean  over  it,  and,  of  course,  I  will  pay 
you  back,  but  unless  I  get  the  money  to  meet  the  call,  I 
shall  have  to  sacrifice  the  stock,"  said  Henry  Leslie,  glanc- 
ing furtively  at  his  wife  across  the  breakfast-table. 

Leslie  was  seldom  at  his  best  in  the  morning,  but  he 
seemed  unusually  nervous,  and  the  coffee-cup  shook  in  his 
fingers  as  he  raised  it. 

"  It's  the  last  I'll  ask  you  for,"  he  continued,  "  and  if 
you  press  him,  Thurston  will  sign  the  check.  He  said  he 
was  coming,  did  he  not?" 

"  Yes,"  was  the  answer.  "  Here  is  his  note.  It  must 
be  the  last,  Harry,  for  I  have  overdrawn  my  allowance  al- 
ready. You  will  notice  that  Geoffrey  hesitates,  and  will 
not  sign  the  check  without  seeing  me.  He  will  be  here  on 
Thursday." 

Leslie  took  the  letter  with  an  eagerness  which  did  not 
escape  his  wife,  while,  as  the  sum  in  question  was  small, 
she  could  not  quite  understand  the  satisfaction  in  his  face. 
It  had  grown  soddened  and  coarse  of  late,  and  there  were 
times  when  she  looked  upon  her  husband  with  positive 
disgust.  Still,  she  had,  in  spite  of  occasional  disputes,  re- 
sumed her  efforts  to  play  the  part  of  a  dutiful  wife,  and 
it  was  easier  to  pay  her  husband  money  than  respect,  the 
more  so  because  he  had  usually  some  specious  excuse, 
which  appealed  both  to  her  ambition  and  her  gambling  in- 
stinct. At  times  he  handed  her  small  amounts  of  money, 
said  to  be  her  share  of  the  profits  on  speculations,  for 
which  he  required  the  loans. 

" i  Pressure  of  work,  but  must  make  an  effort  to  see  you 
as  you  suggest,' "  Leslie  read  aloud.     "  H'm !     '  Limit  ex- 

255 


256   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

ceeded  already.     Will  be  in  town,  and  try  to  call  upon  you 
on  Thursday.' " 

"  It  is  very  good  of  him,"  remarked  Millicent.  "  He 
evidently  finds  every  minute  precious,  and  I  am  very 
reluctant  to  bring  him  here.  I  gather  that,  except  for 
my  request,  he  would  have  deferred  his  other  business. 
Still,  I  suppose  you  must  have  the  money,  Harry  ? " 

"  I  must,"  was  the  answer,  and  Leslie,  who  did  not 
look  up,  busied  himself  with  his  plate.  "  Better  write 
that  you  expect  him,  and  I  will  post  the  note.  By  the 
way,  I  must  remind  you  that  we  take  the  Eastern  Fishery 
delegates  on  their  steamer  trip  the  day  after  to-morrow, 
and  though  there  may  be  rather  a  mixed  company,  I  want 
you  to  turn  out  smartly,  and  get  hold  of  the  best  people. 
It  would  be  well  to  see  a  mention  of  the  handsome  Mrs. 
Leslie  in  the  newspaper  report." 

Millicent  frowned.  She  was  a  vain  woman,  but  she  had 
some  genuine  pride,  and  there  were  limits  to  her  forbear- 
ance. By  the  time  her  husband  had  induced  her  to  with- 
draw her  refusal  to  accompany  him,  it  was  too  late  further 
to  discuss  Thurston's  visit,  which  was  exactly  what  Leslie 
desired.  Accordingly,  well  pleased  with  himself,  he  set 
out  for  his  office,  with  a  letter  in  his  ham1. 

Mrs.  Leslie  had  reason  to  remember  the  steamer  ex- 
cursion. A  party  of  prominent  persons  had  been  invited 
to  accompany  the  Fishery  delegates  on  the  maritime  picnic, 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  displaying  the  facilities  that 
coast  afforded  for  the  prosecution  of  a  new  industry.  It 
was  difficult  for  the  committee  to  draw  a  rigid  line,  and 
the  company  was  decidedly  mixed,  more  so  than  even 
Millicent  at  first  surmised.  Her  husband,  who  acted  as 
marshal,  was  kept  busy  most  of  the  time,  but  she  noticed 
a  swift  look  of  annoyance  on  his  face  when,  before  the 
steamer  sailed,  a  tastefully-dressed  young  woman  ascended 
the  gangway,  where  he  was  receiving  the  guests.  There 
was  nothing  dubious  in  the  appearance  of  the  lady  or  her 


MILLICENT'S    REVOLT  257 

elderly  companion,  and  yet  Millicent  felt  that  Leslie  was 
troubled  by  their  presence,  and  hesitated  to  let  them  pass. 
The  younger  lady,  however,  smiled  upon  him  in  a  manner 
that  suggested  they  had  met  before,  and  Leslie  stood  aside 
when  Shackleby  beckoned  him  with  what  looked  like  an 
ironical  grin.  Then  the  gangway  was  run  in,  and  the 
engines  started. 

It  was  a  mild  day  for  the  season,  and  Millicent,  who 
found  friends,  dismissed  the  subject  from  her  thoughts, 
when  she  saw  her  husband  exchange  no  word  with  his 
latest  guests.  She  was  sitting  with  a  young  married  lady, 
where  the  sun  shone  pleasantly  in  the  shelter  of  the  great 
white  deck-house,  when  a  sound  of  voices  came  out,  with 
the  odor  of  cigar  smoke,  from  an  open  window. 

"  You  fixed  it  all  right  ? "  observed  one  voice  which 
sounded  familiar,  and  there  was  a  laugh  which,  though 
muffled,  was  more  familiar  still.  While,  with  curiosity 
excited,  Millicent  listened,  a  companion  broke  in: 

"Where's  Mr.  Leslie?  I  have  scarcely  seen  him  all 
morning." 

"  Making  himself  useful  as  usual.  Discoursing  on 
fisheries  and  harbors,  of  which  he  knows  nothing,  to  men 
who  know  a  good  deal,  and  no  doubt  doing  it  very  neatly," 
said  Millicent,  smiling. 

"  Why  do  you  let  him  ?  "  asked  the  other,  with  a  little 
gesture  of  pride,  which  became  her.  "  Now,  my  husband 
knows  better  than  to  stay  away  from  me,  even  if  he  wanted 
to.  Ah,  here  he  is,  bringing  good  things  from  the 
sunny  South  piled  up  on  a  tray." 

Perhaps  it  was  the  contrast,  for  Millicent  felt  both  re- 
sentful and  neglected  when  a  young  man  approached 
carrying  choice  fruits  and  cakes  upon  a  nickeled  tray ; 
but  before  he  reached  them  a  voice  came  through  the 
window  again: 

"You're  quite  certain?  That  man  has  eyes  all  over 
him,  and  it  won't  do  to  take  any  chances  with  him.  1I<> 
must  be  kept  right  here  in  Vancouver  all  night,  and  the 


258  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 


game  will  be  in  our  own  hands  before  lie  gets  back 
again." 

"  I've  done  my  best,"  was  the  answer,  and  Millicent 
fancied,  but  was  not  certain,  that  it  was  her  husband  who 
spoke.  "I  have  fixed  things  so  that  he  will  come  to 
Vancouver.  The  only  worry  is,  can  we  depend  upon  the 
fellow  I  laid  the  odds  with  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  responded  the  second  voice.  "  I  guess  he 
knows  better  than  fail  me.  By  the  way,  you  nearly  made 
a  fool  of  yourself  over  Coralie." 

"  Somebody  inside  there  talking  secrets,"  observed  the 
younger  lady.  "  I  think  it  is  Mr.  Shackleby,  and  I  don't 
like  that  man.  Charley,  set  down  that  tray  and  carry  my 
chair  and  Mrs.  Leslie's  at  least  a  dozen  yards  away." 

Millicent,  at  the  risk  of  being  guilty  of  eavesdropping, 
would  have  greatly  preferred  to  stay  where  she  was;  but 
when  the  man  did  his  wife's  bidding,  she  could  only  fol- 
low and  thank  him.  Lifting  a  cluster  of  fruit  from  the 
tray,  she  asked  one  question. 

"  Can  you  tell  me,  Mr.  Nelson,  who  is  Coralie  ?  " 

Nelson  looked  startled  for  a  moment,  and  found  it  nec- 
essary to  place  another  folding  chair  under  the  tray.  He 
did  not  answer  until  his  wife  said : 

"  Didn't  you  hear  Mrs.  Leslie's  question,  Charley  ? 
Who  is  Coralie?" 

"  Sounds  like  the  name  of  a  variety  actress,"  answered 
the  man,  by  no  means  glibly.  "  Why  should  you  ask  me  ? 
I  really  don't  know.  I'm  not  good  at  conundrums.  Isn't 
this  a  beautiful  view?  I  fancied  you'd  have  a  better 
appetite  up  here  than  amid  the  crowd  below." 

Millicent's  curiosity  was  further  excited  by  the 
speaker's  manner,  but  she  could  only  possess  her  soul  in 
patience,  until  presently  it  was  satisfied  on  one  point  at 
least.  She  sat  alone  for  a  few  minutes  on  the  steamer's 
highest  deck  against  the  colored  glass  dome  of  the  great 
white  and  gold  saloon.  Several  of  the  brass-guarded 
lights  were  open  wide,  and,  hearing  a  burst  of  laughter, 


MILLICENT'S    REVOLT  259 

she  looked  down.  The  young  woman,  who  had  spoken  to 
Leslie  at  the  gangway,  sat  at  a  corner  table,  partly  hidden 
by  two  carved  pillars  below.  She  held  a  champagne  glass 
in  a  lavishly  jeweled  hand,  and  there  was  no  doubt  that 
she  was  pretty,  but  there  was  that  in  her  suggestive  laugh 
and  mocking  curve  of  the  full  red  lips,  something  which 
set  Millicent's  teeth  on  edge.  If  more  were  needed  to  in- 
crease the  unpleasant  impression,  a  rich  mine  promoter 
sat  near  the  young  woman,  trying  to  whisper  confiden- 
tially, and  another  man,  whose  name  was  notorious  in  the 
city,  laughed  as  he  watched  them.  But  Millicent  had 
seen  sufficient,  and  turning  her  head,  looked  out  to  sea. 
There  were,  however,  several  men  smoking  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  dome,  and  one  of  them  also  must  have  looked 
down,  for  his  comment  was  audible. 

"  They're  having  what  you  call  a  good  time  down  there ! 
Who  and  what  is  she?" 

"Ma'mselle  Coralie.  Ostensibly  a  clairvoyante,"  was 
the  dry  reply. 

"Clairvoyante!"  repeated  the  first  unseen  speaker, 
who,  by  his  clean  intonation,  Millicent  set  down  as  a 
newly-arrived  Englishman.  "  Do  you  mean  a  professional 
soothsayer  ?  " 

"  Something  of  the  kind,"  said  the  other  with  a  laugh. 
"  We're  a  curious  people  marching  in  the  forefront  of 
progress,  so  we  like  to  think,  and  yet  we  consult  hypnotists 
and  all  kinds  of  fakirs,  even  about  our  business.     Walk 

down  Street  and   you'll   see  half-a-dozen  of  their 

name-plates.  When  they're  young  and  handsome  they  get 
plenty  of  customers,  and  it's  suspected  that  Coralie,  with 
assistance,  runs  a  select  gambling  bank  of  evenings.  The 
charlatan  is  not  tied  to  one  profession." 

"I  catch  on — correct  phrase,  isn't  it?"  rejoined  the 
Englishman.  "  Of  course,  you're  liberal  minded  and  free 
from  effete  prejudice,  but  I  hardly  fancied  the  wives  of 
your  best  citizens  would  care  to  meet  such  ladies." 

"They  wouldn't  if  they  knew  it!"  was  the   answer. 


260   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  Coralie's  a  newcomer ;  such  women  are  birds  of  passage, 
and  before  she  grows  too  famous  the  police  will  move 
her  on.  In  fact,  I've  been  wondering  how  she  got  on 
board  to-day." 

"  Leslie  passed  her  up  the  gangway,"  said  another  man, 
adding,  with  a  suggestive  laugh  as  he  answered  another 
question:  "Why  did  he  do  it?  Well,  perhaps  he's  had 
his  fortune  told,  or  you  can  ask  him.  Anyway,  although 
I  think  he  wanted  to,  he  dared  not  turn  her  back." 

Millicent,  rising,  slipped  away.  Trembling  with  rage, 
she  was  glad  to  lean  upon  the  steamer's  rail.  She  had 
discovered  long  ago  that  her  husband  was  not  a  model  of 
virtue,  but  the  knowledge  that  his  shortcomings  were 
common  property  was  particularly  bitter  to  her.  Of  late 
she  had  dutifully  endeavored  to  live  on  good  terms  with 
him,  and  it  was  galling  to  discover  that  he  had  only,  it 
seemed,  worked  upon  her  softer  mood  for  the  purpose  of 
extorting  money  to  lavish  upon  illicit  pleasures.  She 
felt  no  man  could  sink  lower  than  that,  and  determined 
there  should  be  a  reckoning  that  very  night. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Leslie,"  said  a  voice  beside  her.  "  Why, 
you  look  quite  ill.  My  husband  brought  a  bottle  of  stuff 
guaranteed  to  cure  steamboat  malady.  Run  and  get  it, 
Charley,"  and  Millicent  turned  to  meet  her  young  married 
friend. 

"Please  don't  trouble,  Mr.  Nelson.  I  am  not  in  the 
least  sea-sick,"  Millicent  replied.  "  You  might,  however, 
spread  out  that  deck  chair  for  me.  It  is  a  passing  faint- 
ness  which  will  leave  me  directly." 

She  remembered  nothing  about  the  rest  of  the  voyage, 
except  that,  when  the  steamer  reached  the  wharf,  her  hus- 
band, who  helped  her  down  the  gangway,  said : 

"  I  have  promised  to  go  to  the  conference  and  afterwards 
line  with  the  delegates,  Millicent,  so  1  dare  say  you  will 
excuse  me.  I  shall  not  be  late  if  I  can  help  it,  and  you 
night  wait  up  for  me." 

Millicent,  who  had  intended  to  wait  for  him,  in  any 


MILLICENT'S    REVOLT  261 

case,  merely  nodded,  and  went  home  alone.  She  sat  beside 
the  English  hearth  all  evening  with  an  open  book  upside 
down  upon  her  knee,  and  her  eyes  turned  towards  the 
clock,  which  very  slowly  ticked  away  the  last  hours  she 
would  spend  beneath  her  husband's  roof.  There  was  spirit 
in  her,  and  though  she  hardly  knew  why,  she  dressed  her- 
self for  the  interview  carefully.  When  Leslie  entered,  his 
eyes  expressed  admiration  as  she  rose  with  cold  dignity 
and  stood  before  him.  Leslie  was  sober,  but  unfortunately 
for  himself  barely  so,  for  the  delegates  had  been  treated 
with  lavish  Western  hospitality,  and  there  had  been  many 
toasts  to  honor  during  the  dinner.  He  leaned  against 
the  wall  with  one  hand  on  a  carved  bracket,  looking  down 
upon  her  with  what  seemed  to  be  a  leer  of  brutal  pride 
upon  his  slightly-flushed  face. 

"  You  excelled  yourself  to-day,  Millicent.  I  saw  no 
end  of  folks  admiring  you,"  he  said.  "  Most  satisfactory 
dav!  Evervthing  went  off  famously!  Enjoyed  yourself, 
eh'?  " 

"  I  can  hardly  say  I  did,  but  that  is  not  what  you  asked 
me  to  wait  for,"  was  the  cold  answer,  and  Millicent  with 
native  caution  waited  to  hear  what  the  man  wanted  before 
committing  herself. 

"No.  I  meant  it,  but  it  wasn't.  I  couldn't  help  say- 
ing I  was  proud  of  you."  Leslie  paused,  doubtless  sat- 
isfied, his  wife  thought,  that  he  had  smoothed  the  way 
sufficiently  by  a  clumsy  compliment.  His  abilities  were 
not  at  their  best  just  then.  Millicent's  thin  lips  curled 
scornfully  as  she  listened. 

"Thurston  will  be  here  on  Thursday,"  he  continued. 
"Never  liked  the  man,  but  he  has  behaved  decently  as 
your  trustee,  and  I  want  to  be  fair  to  him.  Besides,  he's 
a  rising  genius,  and  it's  as  well  to  be  on  good  terms  with 
him.  Couldn't  you  get  him  to  stay  to  dinner  and  talk 
over  the  way  they've  invested  your  legacy?" 

"Do  you  think  he  would  care  to  meet  you? "asked 
Millicent,  cuttingly. 


262   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

"  Perhaps  he  mightn't.  You  could  have  the  Nelsons 
over,  and  press  of  business  might  detain  me.  Anyway, 
you'll  have  no  time  to  settle  all  about  that  money  and 
your  English  property  if  he  goes  out  on  the  Atlantic 
train.  You  two  seem  to  have  got  quite  friendly  again, 
and  I'm  tolerably  sure  he'd  stay  if  you  asked  him." 

Millicent's  anger  was  rising  all  the  time;  but,  because 
her  suspicions  increased  every  moment,  she  kept  her- 
self in  hand.  Feeling  certain  this  was  part  of  some  plot, 
and  that  her  husband  was  not  steady  enough  to  carry  out 
his  role  cleverly,  she  desired  to  discover  his  exact  inten- 
tions before  denouncing  him. 

"  Why  should  I  press  him  ?  " 

Had  it  been  before  the  dinner  Leslie  might  have  acted 
more  discreetly.  As  it  was,  he  looked  at  the  speaker  some- 
what blankly.  "Why?  Because  I  want  you  to.  Now 
don't  ask  troublesome  questions  or  put  on  your  tragedy 
air,  Millicent,  but  just  promise  to  keep  him  here  until 
after  the  east-bound  train  starts,  anyway.  I'm  not  ask- 
ing for  caprice — I — I  particularly  want  a  man  to  see  him 
who  will  not  be  in  the  city  until  the  following  day." 

Then,  remembering  what  she  had  heard  outside  the 
steamer's  deck  house,  a  light  suddenly  broke  in  upon  the 
woman.  The  man  whose  keen  eyes  would  interfere  with 
Shackleby's  plans  must  be  Thurston,  and  it  was  evident 
there  was  a  scheme  on  hand  to  wreck  his  work  in  his 
absence.  Once  she  had  half-willingly  assisted  her  hus- 
band to  Thurston's  detriment ;  but  much  had  changed 
since  then,  and  remembering  that  she  had  already,  without 
knowing  it,  played  into  the  confederate's  hands  by  writing 
to  him,  her  indignation  mastered  her. 

"  I  could  not  persuade  him  against  his  wishes,  and 
would  not  do  so  if  I  could,"  she  declared,  turning  full 
upon  her  husband. 

"  You  can  and  must,"  replied  Leslie,  whose  passion 
blazed  up.  ';  I'm  about  sick  of  your  obstinacy  and  fond- 
ness for  dramatic  situations.     You  could  do  anything  with 


MILLICENT'S    REVOLT  263 

any  man  you  laid  yourself  out  to  inveigle,  as  I  know  to 
my  cost,  and  in  this  case — by  the  Lord,  I'll  make  you !  " 

"  I  will  not !  "  JVfillieent's  face  was  white  with  anger 
as  she  fixed  her  eyes  on  him.  "  For  a  few  moments  you 
shall  listen  to  me.  What  you  and  Shackleby  are  planning 
does  not  concern  me;  but  I  will  not  move  a  ringer  to 
help  you.  Once  before  you  said — what  you  have  done — 
and  if  I  have  never  forgotten  it  I  tried  to  do  so.  This 
time  I  shall  do  neither.  I  have  borne  very  much  from  you 
already,  but,  sunk  almost  to  your  level  as  I  am,  there  are 
things  I  cannot  stoop  to  countenance.  For  instance,  the 
draft  I  am  to  cajole  from  Thurston  is  not  intended  for  a 
speculation  in  mining  shares,  but — for  Coralie." 

The  little  carved  bracket  came  down  from  the  wall 
with  a  crash,  and  Leslie,  whose  face  was  swollen  with 
fury,  gripped  the  speaker's  arm  savagely.  "After  to- 
morrow you  can  do  just  what  pleases  you  and  go  where 
you  will,"  he  responded  in  a  voice  shaking  with  rage  and 
fear.  "  But  in  this  I  will  make  you  obey  me.  As  to 
Coralie,  somebody  has  slandered  me.  The  money  is  for 
what  I  told  you,  and  nothing  else." 

Millicent  with  an  effort  wrenched  herself  free.  "  It 
is  useless  to  protest,  for  I  would  not  believe  your  oath," 
she  said,  looking  at  him  steadily  with  contempt  showing 
in  every  line  of  her  pose.  "  Obey — you !  As  the  man  I, 
with  blind  folly,  abandoned  for  you  warned  me,  you  are 
too  abject  a  tiling.  Liar,  thief,  have  I  not  said  sufficient? 
— adulterer ! " 

"  Quite ! "  cried  Leslie,  who  yielded  to  the  murderous 
fury  which  had  been  growing  upon  him,  and  leaning  down 
struck  her  brutally  upon  the  mouth.  "What  I  am  you 
have  made  me — and,  by  Heaven,  it  is  time  I  repaid  you 
in  part." 

Millicent  staggered  a  little  under  the  blow,  which  had 
been  a  heavy  one,  but  her  wits  were  clear,  and,  moving 
swiftly  to  a  bell  button,  the  pressure  of  her  finger  waa 
answered  by  a  tinkle  below. 


264      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

"  I  presume  you  do  not  wish  to  make  a  public  scandal," 
she  said  thickly,  for  the  lace  handkerchief  she  removed 
from  her  smarting  lips  was  stained  with  blood.  Then,  as 
their  Chinese  servant  appeared  in  the  doorway,  "  Your 
master  wants  you,  John." 

Before  Leslie  could  grasp  her  intentions  she  had  van- 
ished, there  was  a  rustle  of  drapery  on  the  stairway,  fol- 
lowed by  the  jar  of  a  lock,  and  he  was  left  face  to  face 
was  the  stolid  Asiatic. 

"  Wantee  someling,  sah  ?  "  the  Chinaman  asked. 

Leslie  glared  at  him  speechless  until,  with  a  humble 
little  nod,  the  servant  said: 

"  Linga  linga  bell ;  too  much  hullee,  John  quick  come. 
Wantee  someling.     Linga  linga  bell." 

"  Go  the  devil.  Oh,  get  out  before  I  throw  you," 
roared  Leslie,  and  John  vanished  with  the  waft  of  a 
blue  gown,  while  Millicent's  book  crashed  against  the  door 
close  behind  his  head. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

A   RECKLESS   JOURNEY 

The  rising  moon  hung  low  above  the  lofty  pines  behind 
the  city,  when  Millicent  sank  shivering  into  a  chair  beside 
the  window  of  her  bedroom.  Under  the  impact  of  the 
blow  her  teeth  had  gashed  her  upper  lip,  but  she  did  not 
feel  the  pain  as  she  sat  with  hands  clenched,  looking  down 
on  the  blaze  of  silver  that  grew  broader  across  the  inlet. 
She  was  faint  and  dizzy,  incapable  as  yet  of  definite 
thought;  but  confused  memories  flashed  through  her  brain, 
one  among  them  more  clearly  than  the  rest.  Instead  of 
land-locked  water  shimmering  beneath  the  Western  pines, 
she  saw  dim  English  beeches  with  the  coppery  disk  of  the 
rising  moon  behind,  and  she  heard  a  tall  man  speak  with 
stinging  scorn  to  one  who  cowered  before  him  among  the 
shadows. 

"  I  was  mad  that  night,  and  have  paid  for  the  mad- 
ness ever  since.  Now  when  it  is  too  late  I  know  what 
I  have  lost ! "  she  gasped  with  a  catch  of  the  breath  that 
was  a  sob  repressed. 

There  was  a  heavy  step  on  the  stairway,  and  Millicent 
shrank  with  the  nausea  of  disgust  as  somebody  tried  the 
door.  She  drew  a  deep  breath  of  relief,  when  the  steps 
passed  on  unevenly. 

The  memories  returned.  They  led  her  through  a  long 
succession  of  mistakes,  falsehoods,  slights  and  wrongs  up 
to  the  present,  and  she  shivered  again,  while  a  heavy  drop 
of  blood  splashed  warm  upon  her  hand.  Then  she  was 
mistress  of  herself  once  more,  and  a  hazy  purpose  grew 
into  definite  sbape.  She  could  at  least  warn  the  man 
whom  she  had  wronged,  and  so  make  partial  reparation. 
It  was  not  a  wish  for  revenge  upon  her  husband  which 
prompted  her  to  desire  that  amends  might  be  made  for 

265 


266      THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

her  past  treachery.  Smarting  with  shame,  she  longed 
only  to  escape  from  him.  After  the  day's  revelations  she 
could  never  forgive  that  blow. 

ZSIillicent  was  a  woman  of  action,  and  it  was  a  relief  to 
consider  practical  details.  She  decided  that  a  telegram 
might  lie  for  days  at  the  station  nearest  the  canon,  while 
what  distance  divided  one  from  the  other  she  did  not 
know.  There  was  no  train  before  noon  the  next  day,  and 
she  feared  that  the  plot  might  be  put  into  execution  as 
soon  as  Geoffrey  left  his  camp.  Therefore,  she  must  reach 
it  before  he  did  so.  Afterwards — but  she  would  not  con- 
sider the  future  then,  and,  if  she  could  but  warn  him, 
nothing  mattered  greatly,  neither  physical  peril  nor  the 
risk  of  her  good  name. 

It  was  long  before  Millicent  Leslie  had  thought  all  this 
out,  but  when  once  her  way  seemed  clear,  exhausted 
by  conflicting  emotions,  she  sank  into  heavy  slumber, 
and  the  sun  was  high  before  she  awakened.  Leslie  had 
gone  to  his  office,  and  she  ate  a  little,  chose  her  thickest 
furs,  and  waited  for  noon  in  feverish  suspense.  Her  hus- 
band might  return  and  prevent  her  departure  by  force. 
She  feared  that,  should  he  guess  her  intention,  a  special 
locomotive  might  be  hired,  even  after  the  train  had 
started.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary  to  slip  away  without 
word  or  sign,  unless,  indeed,  she  could  mislead  him,  and, 
smiling  mirthlessly,  she  laid  an  open  letter  inside  her 
writing-case. 

At  last  the  time  came,  and  she  went  out  carrying  only 
a  little  hand-bag,  passed  along  the  unfrequented  water  side 
to  the  station  by  the  wharf,  and  ensconced  herself  in  the 
corner  of  the  car  nearest  the  locomotive,  counting  the  sec- 
onds until  it  should  start.  Once  she  trembled  when  she 
saw  Shackleby  hurry  along  the  platform,  but  she  breathed 
again  when  he  hailed  a  man  leaning  out  from  the  vesti- 
bule of  a  car.  At  last,  the  big  bell  clanged,  and  the 
Atlantic  express,  rolling  out  of  the  station,  began  its  race 
across  the  continent. 


A   RECKLESS    JOURNEY  267 

It  was  nearly  dusk  when,  with  a  scream  of  brakes,  the 
cars  lurched  into  a  desolate  mountain  station,  and  Milli- 
cent  shivered  as  she  alighted  in  the  frost-dried  dust  of 
snow.  A  nipping  wind  sighed  down  the  valley.  The  tall 
firs  on  the  hillside  were  fading  into  phantom  battalions  of 
climbing  trees,  and  above  them  towered  a  dim  chaos  of 
giant  peaks,  weirdly  awe-inspiring  under  the  last  faint 
glimmer  of  the  dying  day.  A  few  lights  blinked  among 
the  lower  firs,  and  Millicent,  hurrying  towards  them  at 
the  station  agent's  direction,  was  greeted  by  the  odors 
of  coarse  tobacco  as  she  pushed  open  the  door  of  the  New 
Eldorado  saloon. 

A  group  of  bronze-faced  men,  some  in  jackets  of 
fringed  deerskin  and  some  in  coarse  blue  jean,  sat 
about  the  stove,  and,  though  Millicent  involuntarily  shrank 
from  them,  there  was  no  reason  why  she  should  feel  any 
fear  in  their  presence.  They  were  rude  of  aspect — on 
occasion  more  rude  of  speech — but,  in  all  the  essentials 
that  become  a  man,  she  would  have  found  few  to  surpass 
them  in  either  English  or  Western  cities.  There  was  dead 
silence  as  she  entered,  and  the  others  copied  him  when  one 
of  the  loungers,  rising,  took  off  his  shapeless  hat,  not 
ungracefully. 

"  I  want  a  guide  and  good  horse  to  take  me  to  Thurs- 
ton's camp  in  the  Orchard  River  Canon  to-night,"  she 
said. 

The  men  looked  at  one  another,  and  the  one  who  rose 
first  replied :  "  Sorry  to  disappoint  you,  ma'am,  but  it's 
clean  impossible.  We'll  have  snow  by  morning,  and  it's 
steep  chances  a  man  couldn't  get  through  in  the  dark  now 
the  shelf  on  the  wagon  trail's  down." 

"'  I  must  go.  It  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death,  and 
I'm  willing  to  pay  whoever  will  guide  me  proportionate 
to  the  risk,"  insisted  Millicent,  shaking  out  on  the  table 
a  roll  of  bills.  Then,  because  she  was  a  woman  of  quirk 
perceptions,  and  noticed  something  in  the  big  axeman's 
honest  face,  she  added  quickly,  "  1  an  in  great  distress, 


» 


268     THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

and  disaster  may  follow  every  moment  lost.     Is  there  no 
body  in  this  settlement  with  courage  enough  to  help  me? 

This  time  the  listeners  whispered  as  they  glanced  sym- 
pathetically at  the  speaker.     The  big  man  said : 

"  If  you're  willing  to  face  the  risk  I'll  go  with  you. 
You  can  put  back  most  of  your  money ;  but,  because  we're 
poor  men  you'll  be  responsible  for  the  horses." 

Millicent  felt  the  cold  strike  through  her  with  the  keen- 
ness of  steel  when  she  went  out  into  the  night.  Somebody 
lifted  her  to  the  back  of  a  snorting  horse,  and  a  man 
already  mounted  seized  its  bridle.  There  was  a  shout  of 
"  Good  luck !  "  and  they  had  started  on  their  adventurous 
journey.  Loose  floury  snow  muffled  the  beat  of  hoofs,  the 
lights  of  the  settlement  faded  behind  and  the  two  were 
alone  in  a  wilderness  of  awful  white  beauty,  wherein  it 
seemed  no  living  thing  had  broken  the  frozen  silence  since 
the  world  was  made.  Staring  vacantly  before  her  Milli- 
cent saw  the  shoulders  of  the  mighty  peaks  looming  far 
above  her  through  a  haze  of  driving  snow,  which  did  not 
reach  the  lower  slopes,  where  even  the  wind  was  still. 
The  steam  of  the  horses  hung  in  white  clouds  about  them 
as  they  climbed,  apparently  for  hours,  past  scattered 
vedettes  of  dwindling  pines.  After  a  long  pull  on  a  steep 
trail  the  man  checked  the  horses  on  the  brink  of  a  chasm 
filled  with  eddying  mist. 

"  That  should  have  been  our  way,  but  the  whole  blame 
trail  slipped  down  into  the  valley,"  the  man  said.  "  Let 
me  take  hold  of  your  bridle  and  trust  to  me.  We're  going 
straight  over  the  spur  yonder  until  we  strike  the  trail 


again." 


It  was  no  longer  a  ride  but  a  scramble.  Even  those 
sure-footed  horses  stumbled  continually,  and  where  the 
wind  had  swept  the  thin  snow  away,  the  iron  on  the  slid- 
ing hoofs  clanged  on  ice-streaked  rock,  or  hundredweights 
of  loose  gravel  rattled  down  the  incline.  Then  there  was 
juniper  to  be  struggled  through.  They  came  to  slopes  al- 
most precipitous  up  which  the  panting  guide  somehow 


A   RECKLESS    JOURNEY  269 

dragged  the  horses,  but,  one  strong  with  muscular  vigor 
and  the  other  sustained  by  sheer  force  of  will,  the  two 
riders  held  stubbornly  on.  Millicent  had  risen  superior 
to   physical  weakness  that  night. 

"Four  hours  to  the  big  divide!  We've  pretty  well 
equaled  Thurston's  record,"  said  the  guide,  striking  a 
match  inside  his  hollowed  palm  to  consult  his  watch. 
"  It's  all  down  grade  now,  but  we'll  meet  the  wind  in 
the  long  pass  and  maybe  the  snow." 

Millicent's  heart  almost  failed  her  when,  as  the  match 
went  out,  she  gazed  down  into  the  gulf  of  darkness  that 
opened  at  her  feet,  but  she  answered  steadily :  "  Press 
on.  I  must  reach  the  camp  by  daylight,  whatever  hap- 
pens." 

They  went  on.  The  pace,  instead  of  a  scramble,  be- 
came in  places  a  wild  glissade,  and  no  beast  of  burden 
but  a  mountain  pack-horse  could  have  kept  its  footing 
ten  minutes.  Dark  pines  rose  up  from  beneath  them  and 
faded  back  of  them,  here  and  there  a  scarred  rock  or 
whitened  boulder  flitted  by,  and  then  Millicent's  sight  was 
dimmed  by  a  whirling  haze  of  snow.  How  long  the 
descent  lasted  she  did  not  know.  She  could  see  nothing 
through  the  maze  of  eddying  flakes  but  that  a  figure,  mag- 
nified by  them  to  gigantic  proportions,  rode  close  beside 
her,  until  they  left  the  cloud  behind  and  wound  along  the 
face  of  a  declivity,  which  dipped  into  empty  blackness  close 
beneath. 

Suddenly  her  horse  stumbled;  there  was  a  flounder  and 
a  shock,  and  Millicent  felt  herself  sliding  very  swiftly 
down  a  long  slope  of  crusted  snow.  Hoarse  with  terror, 
she  screamed  once,  then  something  seized  and  held  her 
fast,  and  she  rose,  shaking  in  every  limb,  to  cling  breath- 
less to  the  guide. 

"Hurt  bad?"  he  gasped.  "No!— I'm  mighty  glad. 
Snow  slide  must  have  gouged  part  of  the  trail  out.  Can 
you  hold  up  a  minute  while  I  'tend  to  the  horse.?" 

"  I  don't  think  I  am  much  hurt,*'  stammered  Millicent, 


270   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

whose  teeth  were  chattering,  and  the  man  floundering 
back  a  few  paces,  stooped  over  a  dark  object  that  struggled 
in  the  snow.  She  fancied  that  he  fumbled  at  his  belt, 
after  which  there  was  a  horrible  gurgle,  and  he  returned 
rubbing  his  fingers  suggestively  with  a  handful  of 
snow. 

"  Poor  brute's  done  for — I  had  to  settle  him,"  he  ex- 
plained. "  It  will  cost  you — but  we  can  fix  that  when  we 
get  through.  I'll  have  to  change  your  saddle,  and  the 
sooner  we  get  on  the  better.  Won't  keep  you  five  minutes, 
ma'am." 

Z\I illicent  felt  very  cold  and  sick,  for  the  unfortunate 
horse  still  struggled  feebly,  while  the  gurgle  continued, 
and  she  was  devoutly  thankful  when  they  continued  their 
journey.  The  traveling  was,  if  possible,  more  arduous 
than  before.  At  times  they  forced  a  passage  through 
climbing  forest,  and  again  over  slopes  of  treacherous  shale 
where  a  snow  slide  had  plowed  a  great  hollow  in  the 
breast  of  the  hill.  The  puffs  of  snow  which  once  more 
met  them  grew  thicker  until  Millicent  was  sheeted  white 
all  over.     At  last  the  man  said : 

"  It  can't  be  far  off  daylight  and  I'm  mighty  thankful. 
I've  lost  my  bearings,  but  we're  on  a  trail,  which  must 
lead  to  somewhere,  at  last.  Stick  tight  to  your  saddle  and 
I'll  bring  you  through  all  right,  ma'am." 

Millicent  was  too  cold  to  answer.  A  blast  that  whirled 
the  drifts  up  met  her  in  the  face,  numbing  all  her  facul- 
ties and  rendering  breathing  difficult.  The  hand  that 
held  the  bridle  was  stiffened  into  uselessness.  Still,  while 
life  pulsed  within  her,  she  was  going  on,  and  swaying 
in  the  saddle,  she  fixed  her  eyes  ahead. 

At  last  the  trail  grew  level,  the  snow  thinner.  In  the 
growing  light  of  day  a  cluster  of  roofs  loomed  up  before 
her,  and  she  made  some  incoherent  answer  when  her 
guide  confessed : 

'  1  struck  the  wrong  way  at  the  forking  of  the  trail. 
Here's  a  ranch,  however,  and  the  camp  can't  be  far  away. 


A    RECKLESS    JOURNEY  271 

Horse  is  used  up  and  so  am  I,  but  you  could  get  some- 
body to  take  Thurston  a  message." 

Some  minutes  later  he  lifted  Millicent  from  the  saddle, 
and  she  leaned  against  him  almost  powerless  as  he 
pounded  on  the  door.  The  loud  knocking  was  answered 
by  voices  within,  the  door  swung  open,  and  Millicent 
reeled  into  a  long  hall.  Two  women  rose  from  beside  the 
stove,  and,  for  it  was  broad  daylight  now,  stared  in  be- 
wilderment at  the  strangers. 

The  guide  leaned  wearily  against  the  wall,  while  Milli- 
cent, overcome  by  the  change  of  temperature,  stood  clutch- 
ing at  the  table  and  swaying  to  and  fro.  Then  her  fail- 
ing strength  deserted  her.  Somebody  who  helped  her  into 
a  chair  presently  held  a  cup  of  warm  liquid  to  her  lips. 
She  gulped  down  a  little,  and,  recovering  command  of  her 
senses,  found  herself  confronted  by  Helen  Savine.  It  was 
a  curious  meeting,  and  even  then  Millicent  remembered 
under  what  circumstances  they  had  last  seen  each  other. 
It  appeared  probable  that  Helen  remembered,  too,  for 
she  showed  no  sign  of  welcome,  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Sa- 
vine, who  picked  up  the  fallen  cup,  watched  them  in- 
tently. 

"  I  see  you  are  surprised  to  find  me  here,"  said  Millicent, 
with  a  gasp.  "  I  left  the  railroad  last  night  for  Geoffrey 
Thurston's  camp.  We  lost  the  trail  and  one  of  the  horses 
in  the  snow,  and  just  managed  to  reach  this  ranch.  We 
can  drag  ourselves  no  further.  I  did  not  know  the 
ranch  belonged  to  you." 

"That's  about  it!"  the  guide  broke  in.  "This  lady 
has  made  a  journey  that  would  have  killed  some  men — 
it  has  pretty  well  used  me  up,  anyway.  I'll  sit  down  in 
the  corner  if  you  don't  mind.  Can't  keep  myself  right 
end  up  much  longer." 

"Please  make  yourself  comfortable!"  said  Helen,  with 
a  compassionate  glance  in  his  direction.  "I  will  tell 
our  Chinaman  to  see  to  your  horse."  She  turned  towards 
Millicent,  and  her  face  was  coldly  impassive.     "Anyone 


272   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

in  distress  is  welcome  to  shelter  here.  You  were  going 
to  Mr.  Thurston's  camp?" 

Even  Mrs.  Savine  had  started  at  Millicenfs  first  state- 
ment, and  now  she  read  contemptuous  indignation  in 
Helen's  eyes.  It  was  certain  her  niece's  voice,  though 
even,  was  curiously  strained. 

"  Yes !  "  answered  Millicent,  rapidly.  "  I  was  going  to 
Geoffrey  Thurston's  camp.  It  is  only  failing  strength 
that  hinders  me  from  completing  the  journey.  Somebody 
must  warn  him  at  once  that  he  is  on  no  account  to  leave 
for  Vancouver  as  he  promised  me  that  he  would.  There 
is  a  plot  to  ruin  him  during  his  absence — a  traitor  among 
his  workmen,  I  think.  At  any  moment  the  warning  may 
be  too  late.     He  was  starting  west  to-day  to  call  on  me." 

Millicent  was  half-dazed  and  perhaps  did  not  reflect 
that  it  was  possible  to  draw  a  damaging  inference  from 
her  words.  Nevertheless,  there  was  that  in  Helen's  ex- 
pression which  awoke  a  desire  for  retaliation. 

Helen  asked  but  one  question,  "  You  risked  your  life 
to  tell  him  this?"  and  when  Millicent  bent  her  head  the 
guide  interposed,  "  You  can  bet  she  did,  and  nearly  lost 
it." 

"  Then,"  said  the  girl,  "  the  warning  must  not  be 
thrown  away.  Unfortunately,  we  have  nobody  I  could 
send  just  now.  Auntie,  you  must  see  to  Mrs.  Leslie;  I 
will  go  myself." 

"  I'm  very  sorry,  miss.  If  you  like  I'll  do  my  best, 
but  can  hardly  promise  that  I  won't  fall  over  on  the 
way,"  apologized  the  guide;  but  Helen  hastened  out  of  the 
room,  and  now  that  the  strain  was  over,  Millicent  lay  help- 
less in  her  chair.  Still,  she  was  conscious  of  a  keen  dis- 
appointment. After  all  she  had  dared  and  suffered,  it 
was  Helen  who  would  deliver  the  warning. 

Thurston  was  standing  knee-deep  in  ground-up  stone 
and  mire,  inside  a  coffer  dam  about  which  the  river 
frothed  and  roared,  when  a  man  brought  him  word  that 
Miss  Savine  waited  for  him.     lie  hurried  to  meet  her, 


A   RECKLESS    JOURNEY  273 

and  presently  halted  beside  her  horse — a  burly  figure  in 
shapeless  slouch  hat,  with  a  muddy  oilskin  hanging  from 
his  shoulders  above  the  stained  overalls  and  long  boots. 

Helen  sat  still  in  the  saddle,  a  strange  contrast  to  him, 
for  she  was  neat  and  dainty  down  to  the  little  foot  in 
Indian  dressed  deerskin  against  the  horse's  flank.  She 
showed  no  sign  of  pleasure  as  she  returned  his  greeting, 
but  watched  him  keenly  as  she  said: 

"  Mrs.  Leslie  arrived  this  morning  almost  frozen  at  the 
ranch.  She  left  the  railroad  last  night  to  reach  your 
camp,  but  her  guide  lost  the  trail." 

The  man  was  certainly  startled,  but  his  face  betrayed 
no  satisfaction.  It's  most  visible  expression  was  more 
akin  to  annoyance. 

"  Could  she  not  have  waited  ?  "  he  asked  impatiently, 
adding  somewhat  awkwardly,  "  Did  Mrs.  Leslie  explain 
why  she  wanted  to  see  me  so  particularly  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  was  the  quick  answer.  "  She  has  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  while  you  journeyed  to  Vancouver  to  visit  her, 
an  attempt  would  be  made  to  wreck  these  workings.  She 
bade  me  warn  you  that  there  is  a  traitor  in  your  camp." 

"  Ah,"  replied  Geoffrey,  a  flush  showing  through  the 
bronze  on  his  forehead.  He  thought  hastily  of  all  his  men 
and  came  back  to  the  consciousness  of  Helen's  presence 
with  a  start.  "  It  was  very  good  of  you  to  face  the  rough 
cold  journey,  but  you  cannot  return  without  rest  and  re- 
freshment," he  said  with  a  look  that  spoke  of  something 
more  than  gratitude.  "  I  will  warn  my  foremen,  and 
when  it  seems  safe  will  ride  back  with  you." 

If  Helen  had  been  gifted  with  a  wider  knowledge  of 
life  she  might  perhaps  have  noticed  several  circumstances 
that  proved  Thurston  blameless.  As  it  was  she  had  a 
quick  temper,  and  at  first  glance  facts  spoke  eloquently 
against  him. 

"You  cannot,"  was  the  cold  answer.  "The  warning 
was  very  plain,  and  considering  all  that  is  al  stake  you 
must  not  leave  the  workings  a  moment.     Neither  are  any 


274   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

thanks  due  to  me.  I  am  an  interested  party,  and  the 
person  who  has  earned  your  gratitude  is  Mrs.  Leslie.  The 
day  is  clear  and  fine,  and  I  can  dispense  with  an 
escort." 

"  You  shall  not  go  alone,"  declared  Thurston,  doggedly. 
"  You  can  choose  between  my  company  and  that  of  my 
assistant.  And  you  shall  not  go  until  you  rest.  Further, 
I  must  ask  you  a  favor.  Will  you  receive  Mrs.  Leslie 
until  I  have  seen  her  and  arranged  for  her  return? 
There  is  no  married  rancher  within  some  distance,  and  I 
cannot  well  bring  her  here." 

"  You  cannot,"  agreed  Helen  averting  her  eyes.  "  If 
only  on  account  of  the  service  she  has  rendered,  Mrs. 
Leslie  is  entitled  to  such  shelter  as  we  can  offer  her,  as 
long  as  it  appears  necessary." 

"  Thanks !  "  said  Thurston,  gravely.  "  You  relieve  me 
of  a  difficulty."  Then,  stung  by  the  girl's  ill-concealed 
disdain  into  one  of  his  former  outbreaks,  he  gripped  the 
horse's  bridle,  and  backed  the  beast  so  that  he  and  its 
rider  were  more  fully  face  to  face. 

"  Am  I  not  harassed  sufficiently  ?  Good  Lord !  do  you 
think "  he  began. 

"  I  have  neither  the  right  nor  desire  to  inquire  into 
your  motives,"  responded  Helen  distantly.  "We  will,  as 
I  say,  shelter  Mrs.  Leslie,  and,  since  you  insist,  will  you 
ask  your  assistant  to  accompany  me  ?  " 

Geoffrey,  raising  his  hat  a  moment,  swung  round  upon 
his  heel,  and  blew  a  silver  whistle. 

"  Tom,"  he  said  to  the  man  who  came  running  up,  "  tell 
John  to  get  some  coffee  and  the  nicest  things  he  can  in  a 
hurry  for  Miss  Savine.  Straighten  up  my  office  room, 
and  lay  them  out  there.  English  Jim  is  to  ride  back 
with  Miss  Savine  when  she  is  ready.  Send  a  mounted 
man  to  Allerton's  to  bring  Black  in,  see  that  no  man  you 
wouldn't  trust  your  last  dollar  to  lay's  hand  on  a  machine. 
That  would  stop  half  the  work  in  camp?  It  wouldn't — 
confound  you — you  know  what  I  mean.     Call  in  all  ex- 


A   RECKLESS    JOURNEY  275 

plosives  from,  the  shot-firing  gang.  Nobody's  to  slip  for 
a  moment  out  of  sight  of  his  section  foreman." 

Helen  heard  the  crisp  sharp  orders  as  she  rode  up  the 
hill,  and  glanced  once  over  her  shoulder.  She  had  often 
noticed  how  the  whole  strength  of  Geoffrey's  character 
could  rise  to  face  a  crisis.  Still,  appearances  were  terribly 
against  him. 

Geoffrey,  taking  breath  for  a  moment,  scowled  savagely 
at  the  river. 

"  If  ever  there  was  an  unfortunate  devil — but  I  sup- 
pose it  can't  be  helped.  Damn  the  luck  that  dogs  me ! " 
he  ejaculated  as  he  turned  to  issue  more  specific  com- 
mands. 


CHAPTEE   XXVII 

MBS.   SAVINE   SPEAKS   HER  MIND 

Millicent  slept  brokenly  while  Helen  carried  her  mes- 
sage, and  awakening  feverish,  felt  relieved  to  discover 
that  the  girl  was  still  absent.  Miss  Savine  was  younger 
than  herself,  and  of  much  less  varied  experience,  but  the 
look  in  the  girl's  eyes  hurt  her,  nevertheless. 

"  I  am  ashamed  to  force  myself  upon  you/'  she  said  to 
Mrs.  Savine,  who  had  shown  her  many  small  courtesies, 
"  but  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  manage  the  journey  back  to 
the  railroad  to-day.  I  must  also  see  Mr.  Thurston  before 
I  leave  for  England,  and  it  would  be  a  great  favor  if 
I  could  have  the  interview  here." 

"  We  are  glad  to  have  you  with  us,"  said  Mrs.  Savine, 
who  was  of  kindly  nature  and  fancied  she  saw  her  oppor- 
tunity. "  Yes,  I  just  mean  it.  The  journey  has  tried 
you  so  much  that  you  are  not  fit  for  another  now.  Be- 
sides, I  have  heard  so  much  about  you,  that  I  want  a 
talk  with  you." 

"  You  have  probably  heard  nothing  that  makes  this 
visit  particularly  welcome,"  answered  Millicent,  bitterly, 
and  the  elder  lady  smiled. 

"  I  guess  folks  are  apt  to  make  the  most  of  the  worst 
points  in  all  of  us,"  she  observed.  "  But  that  is  not  what 
we  are  going  to  talk  about.  You  are  an  old  friend  of  a 
man  we  are  indebted  to,  and,  just  because  I  believe  there's 
no  meanness  in  Geoffrey  Thurston,  you  are  very  welcome 
to  the  best  that  we  can  do  for  you.  I  will  ask  him  over 
to  meet  you." 

Millicent  flushed.  Under  the  circumstances  she  was 
touched  by  the  speaker's  sincerity,  and  grateful  for  the  way 
she     expressed     herself.     Perhaps     it    was     this     which 

276 


MRS.    SAVINE    SPEAKS    HER    MIND     277 

prompted   her  to   an  almost  involuntary  outpouring  of 
confidence. 

"  I  am  the  woman  who  should  have  married  him,"  she 
said  simply. 

Mrs.  Savine  merely  nodded,  and  dipped  her  needle 
somewhat  blindly  into  the  embroidery  on  her  knee  before 
she  replied :  "  I  had  guessed  it  already.  You  missed  a 
very  good  husband,  my  dear.  I  don't  want  to  force  your 
confidence,  but  I  imagine  that  you  have  some  distress  to 
bear,  and  I  might  help  you.  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  in  my  time/' 

Millicent  was  unstable  by  nature.  She  was  also  excited 
and  feverish.  Afterwards  she  wondered  why  a  kindly 
word  from  a  woman  she  knew  so  slightly  should  excite 
in  her  such  a  desire  for  advice  and  sympathy.  In  spite 
of  her  occasional  brusqueries,  it  was  hard  for  anyone  to 
say  no  to  Mrs.  Savine.  So  Millicent  answered,  with  a 
sigh: 

"I  know  it  now  when  it  is  too  late — no  one  knows  it 
better.     You  do  well  to  believe  in  Geoffrey  Thurston." 

Mrs.  Savine  looked  at  her  very  keenly,  then  nodded. 
"  I  believe  in  you,  too.  There !  I  guess  you  can  trust 
me." 

Millicent  bent  her  head,  and  her  eyes  were  misty.  A 
raw  wound,  which  the  frost  had  irritated,  marred  the 
delicate  curve  of  her  upper  lip.  It  became  painfully 
visible. 

"  It  is  only  fit  that  I  should  tell  you,  since  I  am  your 
guest,"  she  said,  touching  the  scar  with  one  finger. 
"  That  is  the  mark  of  my  husband's  hand,  and  I  am  leav- 
ing him  forever  because  I  would  not  connive  at  Geoffrey'^ 
ruin.  Geoffrey  is  acting  as  trustee  for  my  property,  and 
I  cannot  leave  for  England  without  consulting  him.  So 
much  is  perhaps  due  to  you,  and — because  of  your  kind- 
ness I  should  not  like  you  to  think  too  ill  of  me — I  will 
tell  you  the  rest.  To  begin  with,  Geoffrey  has  never 
shown  me  anything  but  kindness." 


278  THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

Mrs.  Savine  gently  patted  the  speaker's  arm,  and 
Millicent  related  what  had  led  up  to  her  journey,  or 
part  of  it.  When  she  had  finished,  the  elder  lady  com- 
mented : 

"  You  are  doing  a  risky  thing ;  but  I  can't  quite  blame 
you,  and  if  I  could,  I  would  not  do  it  now.  You  will 
stay  right  here  until  Geoffrey  has  fixed  up  all  plans  for 
your  journey,  and  you  can  trust  me  to  be  kind  to  you. 
Still,  there's  one  favor  I'm  going  to  ask.  I  want  you  to 
let  me  tell  my  niece  as  much  of  what  you  have  told  me  as 
I  think  desirable.  Eemember,  Geoffrey  has  been  good  to 
you." 

For  a  moment  Millicent's  face  grew  hard,  and  her 
eyes  defiant.  She  smiled  sadly  as  she  answered :  "  It  is 
his  due,  and  can  make  no  difference  now.  Tell  her  what 
seems  best." 

Meanwhile,  Geoffrey  was  busy*  in  the  canon  camp. 
With  Black  and  Mattawa  Tom  beside  him,  he  stood  hold- 
ing as  symbol,  both  of  equality  and  authority,  a  bright  ax 
in  his  hand,  while  driller,  laborer,  and  machine-tender, 
wondering  greatly,  were  passed  in  review  before  him. 
Black  had  been  boarded  with  a  trust  rancher  some  dis- 
tance from  the  camp.  At  last  a  certain  rock  driller 
passed  in  turn,  and  Tom  from  Mattawa  explained :  "  He's 
a  friend  of  Walla  Jake,  and  as  I  told  you,  the  last  man 
we  put  on." 

"  That's  the  blame  reptile  who  backed  up  Shackleby's 
story  at  the  Blue  Bird  mine,"  cried  Black,  excitedly.  "  If 
there's  anyone  up  to  mischief,  you  can  bet  all  you've  got 
he's  the  man." 

"  Stop  there,  you ! "  Geoffrey's  voice  was  sharp  and 
stern.  "  Cut  him  down  if  he  feels  for  a  revolver  or  tries 
to  make  a  break  of  it,  section  foreman.  Come  here,  close 
in  behind  him,  you  two." 

After  a  swift  glance  over  his  shoulder  the  man  who 
was  summoned  advanced,  scowling  darkly.  He  sullenly 
obeyed  Geoffrey's  second  command,  "  Stand  there — now 


MRS.    SAVINE    SPEAKS    HER    MIND     279 

a  few  steps  aside,"  leaving  his  footprints  clearly  outlined 
in  a  patch  of  otherwise  untrodden  snow. 

"  Good !  "  observed  Geoffrey.  "  Lay  your  templet  on 
those  marks,  Tom."  After  the  foreman  had  produced 
a  paper  pattern  which  fitted  them,  Thurston  added: 
"  We're  going  to  make  a  prisoner  of  you,  and  jail  you 
ourselves,  until  we  can  get  a  formal  warrant.  What  for? 
Well,  you're  going  to  be  tried  for  conspiracy  among  the 
other  things.  You  see  that  pattern?  It  fits  the  foot  of 
a  man  who  went  out  one  night  with  a  spy  Shackleby  sent 
over  to  see  how  and  when  you  would  play  the  devil  with 
our  work  in  the  canon.  It  even  shows  the  stump  of  the 
filed-off  creeper-spike  on  your  right  boot.  There's  no  use 
protesting — a  friend  of  yours  here  will  help  us  to  trace 
vour  career  back  to  the  finding  of  the  Blue  Bird  mine. 
Take  him  along  and  lock  him  into  the  galvanized  store 
shed." 

The  prisoner  was  taken  away,  and  Geoffrey  turned  to 
his  foreman. 

"He  was  in  the  drilling  gang,  Tom?" 

"  Juss  so !     Working  under  the  wall  bed  of  the  canon." 

"  That  lets  some  light  on  to  the  subject.  You  can  dis- 
miss the  others.     Come  with  me,  Tom." 

Twenty  minutes  later  Geoffrey  stood  among  the  boulders 
that  the  shrunken  river  had  left  exposed  near  the  foot  of 
a  giant  cliff  which,  instead  of  overhanging,  thrust  forward 
a  slanting  spur  into  the  rush  of  water,  and  so  formed  a 
bend.  It  was  one  of  the  main  obstacles  Geoffrey,  who 
wondered  at  the  formation,  had  determined  to  remove  by 
the  simultaneous  shock  of  several  heavy  blasting  charges. 
To  that  end  a  gang  of  men  had  long  been  drilling  deep 
holes  into  the  projecting  spur,  and  on  the  preceding  day 
charges  of  high  explosives  had  been  sunk  in  most  of  them 
with  detonators  and  fuses  ready  coupled  for  connection 
to  the  igniting  gear.  Geoffrey  stood  upon  a  boulder  and 
looked  up  at  the  tremendous  face  of  rock  which,  rising 
above    the    spur,    held    up    the    hill    slope    above.     The 


280   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

stratification  was  looser  than  usual,  and  several  mighty 
masses  had  fallen  from  it  into  the  river.  There  were 
also  crannies  at  its  feet. 

"  You've  seen  all  the  drilled  holes.  Anything  strike 
you  yet?"  inquired  Mattawa  Tom. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  answer.  "  It  occurs  to  me  that  French 
Louis  said  he  couldn't  tally  out  all  the  sticks  of  giant 
powder  that  he'd  stowed  away  a  week  or  two  ago.  I 
think  you  foolishly  told  him  he  couldn't  count  straight." 

"  I  did,"  admitted  Tom  from  Mattawa.  "  Louis  ain't 
great  at  counting,  and  he  allowed  he'd  never  let  go  of  the 
key  to  the  powder  magazine." 

"  I  fancy  a  smart  mechanic  could  make  a  key  that  would 
do  as  well,"  remarked  Geoffrey.  "  It  strikes  me,  also,  after 
considering  the  strata  yonder,  that,  if  sufficient  shots  were 
tired  in  those  crannies,  they  would  bring  the  whole  cliff  and 
the  hillside  above  it  down  on  top  of  us — you'll  remember 
I  cautioned  you  to  drill  well  clear  of  the  rock  face  itself  ? 
Now,  if  coupled  fuses  were  led  from  the  shot  holes  we 
filled  to  those  we  didn't,  so  that  both  would  fire  simul- 
taneously, nobody  afterwards  would  find  anything  sus- 
picious under  several  thousand  tons  of  debris.  I'm  in- 
clined to  think  there  are  such  fuses.  Take  your  shovel, 
and  we'll  look  for  them." 

They  worked  hard  for  half  an  hour,  and  then  Geoffrey 
chuckled.  Lifting  what  looked  like  a  stout  black  cord 
from  among  the  rubble  where  it  was  carefully  hidden, 
Mattawa  Tom  said:  "This  time  I  guess  you've  struck  it 
dead." 

"  Follow  the  thing  up,"  Geoffrey  commanded. 

This  was  done,  and  further  searching  revealed  the 
charges  for  which  they  were  searching,  skillfully  con- 
cealed in  the  crannies.  Geoffrey's  face  was  grim  as  he 
said: 

"  It  was  planned  well.  They  would  have  piled  half 
yonder  shoulder  of  the  range  into  the  canon  if  they  had 
got  their  devilish  will.     Pull  up  every  fuse,  and  fix  fresh 


MRS.    SAVINE    SPEAKS    HER    MIND     281 

detonators  to  all  the  charges.  Change  every  man  in  that 
gang,  and  never  leave  this  spot  except  when  the  section 
boss  replaces  you,  until  we're  ready  for  firing.  Thank 
Heaven  that  will  be  in  a  few  more  days,  and  my  nerves 
may  hold  out  that  long.  I've  hardly  had  an  hour's  sleep 
in  the  last  week,  Tom." 

While  Geoffrey  was  acting  in  accordance  with  the  warn- 
ing she  had  delivered,  Helen  was  on  her  way  back  to  the 
ranch  with  his  assistant  as  her  escort.  Helen  had  not 
forgotten  that  it  was  her  remonstrance  which  had  origi- 
nally obtained  a  humble  appointment  for  English  Jim.  He 
had  several  times  visited  the  ranch  with  messages,  and 
was  accordingly  invited  to  enter  when  they  reached  the 
house.  He  recognized  Mrs.  Leslie  at  once,  but  he  could 
be  discreet,  and,  warned  by  something  in  her  manner, 
addressed  no  word  to  her  until  he  found  opportunity  for 
a  few  moments'  private  speech  before  leaving. 

"  You  remember  me,  I  see,"  Millicent  said,  and  Eng- 
lish Jim  bowed. 

"I  do ;  perhaps  because  I  have  reason  to.  Though 
most  reluctant  to  say  so,  I  lost  a  valuable  paper  the  last 
time  I  was  in  your  presence,  and  that  paper  was  after- 
wards used  against  my  employer.  Pardon  me  for  speak- 
ing so  plainly ;  you  said  you  were  a  friend  of  Mr.  Thurs- 
ton's." 

"You  need  not  be  diffident,"  replied  Millicent,  check- 
ing him  with  a  wave  of  her  hand.  "  Suppose  it  was  I 
who  found  the  drawing?     You  would  be  willing  to  keep 

silence  in  return  for " 

It  was  English  Jim  who  interrupted  now.  "  In  return 
for  your  solemn  promise  to  render  no  more  assistance  to 
our  enemies.  I  do  not  forget  your  kindness,  and  hate  the 
painful  necessity  of  speaking  so  to  you,  but  I  am  Thurs- 
ton's man,  soul  and  body." 

"I  ask  your  pardon,"  said  Millicent.  "Will  you  be- 
lieve me  if  I  say  that  I  lately  ran  some  risk  to  bring  Mr. 
Thurston  a  much-needed  warning?    I  am  going  to  Eng- 


282   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

land  in  a  day  or  two,  and  shall  never  come  back  again. 
Therefore,  you  can  rely  upon  my  promise." 

"  Implicitly,"  returned  English  Jim.  "  You  must  have 
had  some  reason  I  cannot  guess  for  what  you  did.  That 
sounds  like  presumption,  doesn't  it?  But  you  can  count 
upon  my  silence,  madam." 

"  You  are  a  good  man,"  Millicent  impulsively  held 
out  her  hand  to  him.  "  I  have  met  very  few  so  loyal 
or  so  charitable.  May  I  wish  you  all  prosperity  in  youu 
career  ?  " 

English  Jim  merely  bowed  as  he  went  out,  and  Milli- 
cent's  eyes  grew  dim  as  she  thought  of  her  treachery  to 
Geoffrey. 

"There  are  good  men  in  the  world  after  all,  though 
it  has  been  my  misfortune  to  chiefly  come  across  the  bad," 
she  admitted  to  herself. 

Darkness  had  fallen  when  Thurston  rode  up  to  the 
ranch.  He  passed  half  an  hour  alone  with  Millicent  and 
went  away  without  speaking  to  anyone  else.  After  he  had 
gone  Millicent  said  to  Mrs.  Savine : 

"  I  start  for  England  as  soon  as  possible,  and  Mr. 
Thurston  is  going  to  the  railroad  with  me.  I  shall  never 
return  to  Canada." 

Pleading  fatigue,  she  retired  early,  and  for  a  time  Mrs. 
Savine  and  Helen  sat  silently  in  the  glow  of  the  great 
hearth  upon  which  immense  logs  were  burning.  There 
was  no  other  light  in  the  room,  and  each  flicker  of  the 
fire  showed  that  Helen's  face  was  more  than  usually 
serious. 

"  Did  you  know  that  it  was  Mrs.  Leslie  Geoffrey  should 
have  married  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Savine  at  length. 

"  No,"  answered  Helen,  flushing.  With  feeling  she 
added.  "  Perhaps  I  ought  to  have  guessed  it.  She  leaves 
shortly,  does  she  not?  It  will  be  a  relief.  She  must  be 
a  wicked  woman,  but  please  don't  talk  of  her." 

''That  is  just  what  I'm  going  to  do,"  declared  her 
aunt,  gravely.     "  I  wouldn't  guarantee  that  she  is  wholly 


MRS.    SAVINE    SPEAKS    HER    MIND      283 

good,  but  I  blame  her  poison-mean  husband  more  than 
her.     Anyway,  she  is  better  than  you  suppose  her." 

"  I  made  no  charge  against  her,  and  am  only  glad  she 
is  going,"  said  Helen  Savine.  Mrs.  Savine  smiled 
shrewdly. 

"  Well,  I  am  going  to  show  you  there  is  nothing  in  that 
charge.  Not  quite  logical,  is  it,  but  sit  still  there  and 
listen  to  me." 

Helen  listened,  at  first  very  much  against  her  will, 
presently  she  grew  half-convinced,  and  at  last  wholly  so. 
She  blushed  crimson  as  she  said : 

"  May  I  be  forgiven  for  thinking  evil — but  such  things 
do  happen,  and  though  I  several  times  made  myself  be- 
lieve, even  against  the  evidence  of  my  eyes,  that  I  was 
wrong,  appearances  were  horribly  against  her.  I  am  tired 
and  will  say  good-night,  auntie." 

"  Not  yet,"  interposed  Mrs.  Savine,  laying  a  detaining 
grasp  upon  her.  "  Sit  still,  my  dear,  I'm  only  begin- 
ning. Appearances  don't  always  count  for  much.  Now, 
there's  Mrs.  Christopher  who  started  in  to  copy  my 
elixir.  Oh,  yes,  it  was  like  it  in  smell  and  color,  but  she 
nearly  killed  poor  Christopher  with  it." 

"  She  said  it  cured  him  completely,"  commented 
Helen,  hoping  to  effect  a  diversion ;  but  Mrs.  Savine  would 
not  be  put  off. 

"  We  won't  argue  about  that,  though  there'll  be  a 
coroner  called  in  the  next  time  she  makes  a  foolish  experi- 
ment. Now  I'm  going  to  give  my  husband's  confidences 
away.  Hardly  fair  to  Tom,  but  I'll  do  it,  because  it 
seems  necessary,  and  the  last  time  I  didn't  go  quite  far 
enough.  To  begin  with.  Did  you  know  the  opposition 
wanted  to  buy  Geoffrey  over,  paying  him  two  dollars  for 
every  one  he  could  have  made  out   of  your  father?* 

"No,"  answered  Helen,  starling.  "It  was  very  loyal 
of  him  to  refuse.     Why  did  lie  do  so?" 

Mrs.  Savine  smiled  good-mimoredly.  "I  guess  yon 
think  that's  due  to  your  dignity,  but  you  don't  fool  me. 


284      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

Look  into  your  mirror,  Helen,  if  you  really  want  to  know. 
Did  you  hear  that  he  put  every  dollar  he'd  made  in 
Canada  into  the  scheme?  Of  course  you  didn't;  he  made 
Tom  promise  he  would  never  tell  you.  Besides — but  I 
forgot,  I  must  not  mention  that." 

"  Please  spare  me  any  more,  auntie,"  pleaded  Helen, 
who  was  overcome  bv  a  sudden  realization  of  her  own  in- 
justice  and  absolute  selfishness. 

"  No  mercy  this  time,"  was  the  answer,  given  almost 
genially.  "  Like  the  elixir  which  doesn't  taste  pleasant, 
it's  good  for  you.  You  didn't  know,  either,  for  the  same 
reason,  that  not  long  ago  Tom  was  badly  scared  for  fear 
he'd  have  to  let  the  whole  thing  go  for  lack  of  money. 
It  would  have  been  the  end  of  Julius  Savine  if  he  had 
been  forced  to  give  up  this  great  enterprise." 

"  I  never  thought  things  were  so  bad,  but  how  does  it 
concern  Mr.  Thurston  ?  "  Helen  questioned  her  aunt  in  a 
voice  that  was  trembling. 

"  Geoffrey  straightened  out  all  the  financial  affairs  in 
just  this  way.  A  relative  in  England  left  an  estate  to  be 
divided  between  him  and  Mrs.  Leslie.  There  was  enough 
to  keep  him  safe  for  life,  if  he'd  let  it  lie  just  where  it  was, 
but  he  didn't.  No,  he  sold  out  all  that  would  have  earned 
him  a  life  income  for  any  price  he  could,  and  turned  over 
every  cent  of  it  to  help  your  father.  Now  I've  about  got 
through,  but  I've  one  question  to  ask  you.  Would  the 
man  who  did  all  that — you  can  see  why — be  likely  to  fool 
with  another  man's  wife,  even  if  it  was  the  handsome 
Mrs.  Leslie?" 

"  No,"  said  Helen,  whose  cheeks,  which  had  grown 
pallid,  flushed  like  a  blush  rose.  "  I  am  glad  you  told 
me,  auntie,  but  I  feel  I  shall  never  have  the  courage  to 
look  thai  man  in  the  face  again." 

Mrs.  Savine  smiled,  though  her  eyes  glistened  in  the 
firelight  as  she  laid  a  thin  hand  on  one  of  Helen's,  which 
felt  burning  hot  as  the  fingers  quivered  within  her  grasp. 

"  You  will,  or  that  will  hurt  him  more  than  all,"  she 


MRS.    SAVINE    SPEAKS    HER    MIND      285 

replied.  "  It  wasn't  easy  to  tell  you  this,  but  I've  seen 
too  many  lives  ruined  for  the  want  of  a  little  common- 
sense  talking — and  I  figure  Jacob  wouldn't  come  near 
beating  Geoffrey  Thurston." 

Helen  rose  abruptly.  "  Auntie,  you  will  see  to  father 
— he  has  been  better  lately — for  just  a  little  while,  will 
not  you  ?  "  she  asked.  "  Mrs.  Crighton  has  invited  me  so 
often  to  visit  her,  and  I  really  need  a  change.  This 
valley  has  grown  oppressive,  and  I  must  have  time  to 
think." 

"  Yes,"  assented  Mrs.  Savine.  "  But  you  must  stand 
by  your  promise  to  fire  the  final  shot." 

The  door  closed,  and  Mrs.  Savine,  removing  her 
spectacles,  wiped  both  them  and  her  eyes  as  she  remarked : 
"  I  hope  the  Almighty  will  forgive  a  meddlesome  old 
woman  for  interfering,  knowing  she  means  well." 


CHAPTEE    XXVIII 


LESLIE   STEPS   OUT 


Henry  Leslie  did  not  return  home  at  noon  on  the  day 
following  the  altercation  with  his  wife.  Millicent  had  an 
ugly  temper,  but  she  would  cool  down  if  he  gave  her  time, 
he  said  to  himself.  In  the  evening  he  fell  in  with  two 
business  acquaintances  from  a  mining  district,  who  were 
visiting  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  finding  diversion  and 
they  invited  him  to  assist  them  in  their  search  for  amuse- 
ment. Leslie,  though  unprincipled,  lacked  several  quali- 
ties necessary  for  a  successful  rascal,  and,  oppressed  by 
the  fear  of  Shackleby's  displeasure  should  Thurston  re- 
turn to  the  mountains  prematurely,  and  uncertain  what 
to  do,  was  willing  to  try  to  forget  his  perplexities  for  an 
hour  or  two. 

The  attempt  was  so  far  successful  that  he  went  home 
at  midnight,  somewhat  unsteadily,  a  good  many  dollars 
poorer  than  when  he  set  out.  Trying  the  door  of  his  wife's 
room,  lie  found  it  locked.  He  did  not  suspect  that  it  had 
been  locked  on  the  outside  and  that  Millicent  had  thrown 
the  key  away.  He  was,  however,  rather  relieved  than 
otherwise  by  the  discovery  of  the  locked  door,  and,  sleep- 
ing soundly,  wakened  later  than  usual  next  morning. 
Millicent,  however,  was  neither  at  the  breakfast-table  nor 
in  her  own  room  when  he  pried  the  door  open.  He  saw 
that  some  garments  and  a  valise  were  missing,  and  decided 
that  she  had  favored  certain  friends  with  her  company, 
and,  returning  mollified,  would  make  peace  again,  as  had 
happened  before.  Still,  he  was  uneasy  until  he  espied  her 
writing-case  with  the  end  of  a  letter  protruding.  Read- 
ing the  latter,  he  discovered  it  to  be  an  invitation  to  Vic- 
toria.    He  noticed  on  the  blotter  the  reversed  impression 

286 


LESLIE    STEPS    OUT  287 

of  an  addressed  envelope,  which  showed  that  she  had  an- 
swered the  invitation.  Two  days  passed,  and,  hearing 
nothing,  he  grew  dissatisfied  again,  and  drafted  a  diplo- 
matic telegram  to  the  friends  in  Victoria.  It  happened 
that  Shackleby  was  in  his  office  when  the  answer  arrived. 

"  Has  Thurston  come  into  town  yet  ?  You  told  me  you 
saw  your  way  to  keep  him  here,"  said  Shackleby.  "  Didn't 
you  mention  he  had  the  handling  of  a  small  legacy  left 
Mrs.  Leslie?" 

"It  is  strange,  but  he  has  not  arrived,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "  My  wife  is  an  old  friend  of  his,  and  I  had 
counted  on  her  help  in  detaining  him,  but,  unfortunately, 
she  considered  it  necessary  to  accept  an  invitation  to  Vic- 
toria somewhat  suddenly." 

"I  should  hardly  have  fancied  Thurston  was  an  old 
friend  of — yours,"  Shackleby  remarked  with  a  carelessness 
which  almost  blunted  the  sneer.  "  I'm  also  a  little  sur- 
prised at  what  you  tell  me,  because  I  saw  Mrs.  Leslie 
hurrying  along  to  the  Atlantic  express.  She  couldn't 
book  that  way  to  Victoria." 

"You  must  have  been  mistaken,"  said  Leslie,  who 
turned  towards  a  clerk  holding  out  a  telegraphic  envelope. 
He  ripped  it  open  and  read  the  enclosure  with  a  smothered 
ejaculation. 

"  Can't  understand  your  wire.  Mrs.  Leslie  not  here. 
Wrote  saying  she  could  not  come." 

"  Excuse  the  liberty.  I  believe  I  have  a  right  to  in- 
spect all  correspondence,"  observed  Shackleby,  coolly 
leaning  over  and  picking  up  the  message.  Then  he  looked 
straight  at  Leslie,  and  there  was  a  moment's  silence  be- 
fore he  asked.  "  How  much  does  Mrs.  Leslie  know  about 
your  business  ?  " 

"I  don't  know,"  answered  the  anxious  man  in  despera- 
tion. "  I  had  to  tell  her  a  little  so  that  she  could  help 
me." 


288      THURSTON    OF    ORCHARD    VALLEY 

"  So  I  guessed ! "  commented  Shackleby.  "  Now,  I 
don't  want  to  hurt  your  feelings,  but  you  can't  afford  to 
quarrel  with  me  if  I  do.  You're  coming  straight  with  me 
to  the  depot  to  find  out  where  Mrs.  Leslie  bought  a  ticket 
to." 

"  I'll  see  you  hanged  first,"  broke  out  Leslie.  "  Isn't  it 
enough  that  you  presume  to  read  my  private  correspond- 
ence? I'll  suffer  no  interference  with  my  domestic 
affairs." 

Shackleby  laughed  contemptuously.  "You'll  just  come 
along  instead  of  blustering — there's  not  an  ounce  of  real 
grit  in  you.  This  is  no  time  for  sentiment,  and  you  have 
admitted  that  Mrs.  Leslie  was  on  good  terms  with  Thurs- 
ton. If  she  has  warned  him,  one  of  us  at  least  will  have 
to  make  a  record  break  out  of  this  country.  If  he  doesn't 
it  won't  be  the  divorce  court  he'll  figure  in." 

Leslie  went  without  further  protest,  and  Shackleby 
looked  at  him  significantly  when  the  booking-clerk  said, 
"  If  I  remember  right,  Mrs.  Leslie  bought  a  ticket  for 
Thompson's.  It's  a  flag  station  at  the  head  of  the  new 
road  that's  to  be  driven  into  the  Orchard  Valley." 

"  I  guess  that's  enough,"  remarked  Shackleby.  "  You 
and  I  are  going  there  by  the  first  train  too.  Oh,  yes,  I'm 
coming  with  you  whether  you  like  it  or  not,  for  it  strikes 
me  our  one  chance  is  to  bluff  Thurston  into  a  bargain  for 
the  cessation  of  hostilities.  It's  lucky  he's  supposed  to  be 
uncommonly  short  of  money." 

Geoffrey  Thurston,  Mrs.  Leslie,  and  Thomas  Savine  of 
course,  could  not  know  of  this  conversation,  but  the 
woman  was  anxious  as  they  rode  together  into  sight  of  the 
little  flag  station  shortly  before  the  Atlantic  express  was 
due.  When  the  others  dismounted,  Thomas  Savine,  who 
had  been  summoned  by  telegram  from  Vancouver,  re- 
mained discreetly  behind.  It  was  very  cold,  darkness  was 
closing  down  on  the  deep  hollow  among  the  hills,  and  some 
little  distance  up  the  ascending  line,  a  huge  freight  loco- 
motive was  waiting  with  a  string  of  cars  behind  it  in  a 


LESLIE    STEPS    OUT  289 

side  track.  Thurston  pointed  to  the  fan-shaped  blaze  of 
the  great  head  lamp. 

"  We  have  timed  it  well.  They're  expecting  your  train 
now,"  he  said. 

"  I  am  glad,"  was  Millicent's  answer.  "  I  shall  feel 
easier  when  I  am  once  upon  the  way,  for  all  day  I  have 
been  nervously  afraid  that  Harry  might  arrive  or  some- 
thing unexpected  might  happen  to  detain  me.  There  will 
be  only  time  to  catch  the  Allan  boat,  you  say,  and  once  the 
train  leaves  this  station  nobody  could  overtake  me?" 

"  Of  course  not ! "  answered  Geoffrey,  reassuringly.  "  It 
is  perhaps  natural  that  you  should  be  apprehensive,  but 
there  is  no  reason  for  it.  Whether  you  are  doing  right 
or  wrong  I  dare  not  presume  to  judge,  and,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, I  wish  there  had  been  somebody  else  to  coun- 
sel you;  but  if  your  husband  has  treated  you  cruelly  and 
you  are  in  fear  of  him,  I  cannot  venture  to  dissuade  you. 
You  will  write  to  me  when  you  have  settled  your  plans?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  promised.  After  a  moment's  pause,  she 
went  on :  "I  have  hardly  been  able  to  consider  the  posi- 
tion yet,  but  I  will  never  go  back  to  Harry.  My  trustees 
must  either  help  me  to  fight  him  or  bribe  him  not  to 
molest  me.  It  is  a  hateful  position,  but  though  I  have 
Buffered  a  great  deal  there  are  things  I  cannot  counte- 
nance." 

The  hoot  of  a  whistle  came  ringing  up  the  valley,  the 
light  of  another  head  lamp,  growing  brighter,  flickered 
among  the  firs,  and  Millicent  looked  up  at  her  companion 
as  she  said : 

"I  may  never  see  yon  again,  Geoffrey,  but  T  cannot  go 
without  asking  you  to  forgive  me.  You  do  not  know,  and 
I  dare  not  tell  you,  in  how  many  ways  I  have  injured 
you.  I  would  like  to  think  that  you  do  not  cherish  any 
ill-will  against  me." 

"You  may  be  quite  sure  of  it,"  was  the  answer,  and 
Geoffrey  smiled  upon  her.  "What  I  shall  remember  most 
clearly  is  how  much  you  risked  to  warn  me,  and  that  the 


290   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

safe  completion  of  the  work  I  have  set  my  heart  on  is 
due  to  you.  We  will  forget  all  the  unpleasant  things  that 
have  happened  in  the  past  and  meet  as  good  friends  next 
time,  Millicent." 

The  woman's  voice  trembled  a  little  as  she  replied :  "  I 
hope  when  one  by  one  you  hear  of  the  unpleasant  things 
you  will  be  charitable.  But  a  last  favor — you  will  not 
tell  Harry  where  I  have  gone  until  I  am  safely  on  my 
way  to  England  ?  " 

"  No,"  promised  Geoffrey.  "  You  can  depend  upon 
that.  I  have  not  forgiven  your  husband,  but  the  train  is 
coming  in  and  it  will  only  stop  a  few  seconds." 

With  couplings  clashing  the  long  cars  lurched  in. 
Geoffrey  hurried  Millicent  into  one  of  them.  He  felt 
his  hand  grasped  fervently,  and  fancied  he  saw  a  tear 
glisten  in  Millicent's  eyes  by  the  light  of  the  flashing 
lamps.  Then  the  great  engine  snorted,  and  he  sprang  down 
from  the  vestibule  footboard  as  the  train  rolled  out. 
Turning  back  towards  the  station  to  join  Thomas  Savine, 
he  found  himself  confronted  by  two  men  who  had  just 
alighted. 

Their  surprise  was  mutual,  but  Thomas  Savine,  who 
stood  beside  a  box  just  hurled  out  of  the  baggage  car,  had 
his  wits  about  him.  "  Here's  one  case,  Geoffrey.  The 
conductor  thinks  that  some  fool  must  have  labelled  the 
others  wrong,  and  they'll  come  on  by  first  freight,"  he 
said. 

This  was  an  accurate  statement,  and  for  Millicent's  sake 
Geoffrey  was  grateful  that  his  comrade  should  make  it  so 
opportunely.     It  accounted  for  his  presence  at  the  station. 

"It  can't  be  helped,"  he  said,  and  then  turned  stiffly 
towards  Shackleby  and  Henry  Leslie,  who  waited  between 
him  and  the  roadway. 

"  We  want  a  few  words  with  you,  but  didn't  expect  to 
find  you  here,"  abruptly  remarked  Shackleby.  "  Is  there 
any  place  fit  to  sit  in  at  the  saloon  yonder?" 

"  I  really  don't  know,"  Geoffrey  replied.     "  Having  no 


LESLIE    STEPS    OUT  291 

time  to  waste  in  conversation,  neither  do  I  care.  If  you 
have  anything  to  say  to  me  you  can  say  it — very  brieflv 
—here." 

Shackleby  pinched  the  cigar  he  was  smoking.  Laying 
his  hand  on  Leslie's  shoulder  warningly,  he  whispered, 
"  Keep  still,  you  fool." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  can  condense  what  I  have  to  sav," 
he  answered  airily,  addressing  Thurston.  "  Fact  is,  in 
the  first  place,  and  before  Mr.  Leslie  asks  a  question,  I 
want  to  know  whether  we — that  is  I — can  still  come  to 
terms  with  you.  It's  tolerably  well-known  that  my  col- 
leagues are,  so  to  speak,  men  of  straw,  and  individually  I 
figure  it  might  be  better  for  both  of  us  if  we  patched  up 
a  compromise.  I  can't  sketch  out  the  rest  of  my  pro- 
gramme in  the  open  air,  but,  as  a  general  idea,  what  do 
you  think,  Mr.  Savine?" 

"That  your  suggestion  comes  rather  late  in  the  day," 
was  the  answer. 

Shackleby  was  silent  for  a  moment,  though,  for  it  was 
quite  dark  now  that  the  train  had  gone.  Savine  could  not 
be  quite  certain  whether  he  moved  against  Leslie  by  acci- 
dent or  deliberately  hustled  him  a  few  paces  away. 
Geoffrey,  however,  felt  certain  that  neither  had  seen  Milli- 
cent,  nor,  thanks  to  Savine,  suspected  that  she  was  on 
board  the  departing  cars.  Just  then  a  deep-toned  whistle 
vibrated  across  the  pines,  somebody  waved  a  lantern  be- 
tween the  rails,  and  the  panting  of  the  freight  locomotive's 
pump  became  silent.  The  track  led  down  grade  past  the 
station  towards  the  coast. 

"  Better  late  than  never,"  said  Shackleby.  "  My  hand's 
a  good  one  still.     I'm  not  sure  I  won't  call  you." 

"  To  save  time  I'll  show  you  mine  a  little  sooner  than 
I  meant  to  do,  and  you'll  see  the  game's  up,"  replied 
Geoffrey,  grimly.  "  It  may  prevent  you  from  worrying 
me  during  the  next  week  or  two,  and  you  can't  well  profit 
by  it.  I've  got  Black,  who  is  quite  ready  to  go  into  court 
at  any  time,  where  you  can't  get  at  him.     I've  got  the 


292   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

nearest  magistrate's  warrant  executed  on  the  person  of 
your  other  rascal,  and  Black  will  testify  as  to  his  record, 
which  implies  the  throwing  of  a  sidelight  upon  your  own. 
Xo  doubt,  to  save  himself,  the  other  man  will  turn 
against  you.  In  addition,  if  it's  necessary,  which  I  hardly 
thing  possible,  I  have  even  more  damaging  testimony.  I 
have  sworn  a  statement  before  the  said  magistrate  for  the 
Crown-lands  authorities,  and  purpose  sending  a  copy  to 
each  of  your  directors  individually.  That  ought  to  be 
sufficient,  and  I  have  no  more  time  to  waste  with  you." 

"  But  you  have  me  to  settle  with,  or  I'll  blast  your 
name  throughout  the  province  if  I  drag  my  own  in  the 
mud.  Where's  my  wife  ?  "  snarled  Leslie,  wrenching  him- 
self free  from  his  confederate's  restraining  grasp. 

"  If  you're  bent  on  making  a  fool  of  yourself,  and  I 
guess  you  can't  help  it,  go  on  your  own  way,"  interposed 
Shackleby,  with  ironical  contempt. 

"  I  have  no  intention  of  telling  you  where  Mrs.  Leslie 
is,"  asserted  Geoffrey.  "  You  will  hear  from  her  when  she 
considers  it  advisable  to  write." 

A  whir  of  driver  wheels  slipping  on  the  rails  came 
down  the  track,  followed  by  a  shock  of  couplings  tighten- 
ing and  the  snorting  of  a  heavy  locomotive,  but  none  of 
the  party  noticed  it. 

"  She  was  here ;  you  can't  deny  it,"  shouted  Leslie, 
who  had  yielded  to  a  fit  of  rabid  fury.  He  waa  not  a 
courageous  man,  and  had  been  held  in  check  by  fear  of 
Shackleby,  but  there  was  some  spirit  in  him,  and,  per- 
haps because  he  had  injured  Thurston,  had  always  hated 
him.  Now  when  his  case  seemed  desperate,  with  the  bold- 
ness of  a  rat  driven  into  a  corner,  he  determined  to  tear 
the  hand  that  crushed  him. 

"  I'll  take  action  against  you.  I'll  blazon  it  in  the 
press.     I'll    close    every    decent   house    in    the    province 

linst  you,"  lie  continued,  working  himself  up  into  a 

Dzy.  "  Where  have  you  hidden  my  wife  ?  By  Heaven, 
ike  you  tell  me." 


LESLIE    STEPS    OUT  293 

"Take  care!"  warned  Geoffrey,  straightening  himself 
and  thrusting  one  big  hand  behind  his  back.  "  It  is 
desperately  hard  for  me  to  keep  my  fingers  off  you  now, 
but  if  you  say  another  word  against  Mrs.  Leslie,  look  to 
yourself.  Shackleby,  you  have  heard  him ;  now  for  the 
woman's  sake  listen  to  me.  I  have  never  wronged  your 
wife  by  thought  or  word,  Leslie,  and  the  greatest  indis- 
cretion she  was  ever  guilty  of  was  marrying  you." 

"  You  have  hidden  her !  "  almost  screamed  the  desperate 
man.     "  I'll  have  satisfaction  one  way  if  you're  too  strong 

for  me  another.     Liar,  traitor,  sed " 

Geoffrey  strode  forward  before  the  last  word  was  com- 
pleted, Leslie  flung  up  one  hand,  but  Shackleby  struck  it 
aside  in  time,  and  something  that  fell  from  it  clinked  with 
a  metallic  sound.  Exactly  how  what  followed  really  hap- 
pened was  never  quite  certain.  Leslie,  blind  with  rage, 
either  tripped  over  his  confederate's  outstretched  foot,  or 
lost  his  balance,  for  just  as  a  blaze  of  light  beat  upon  the 
group,  he  staggered,  clutched  at  Thurston,  and  missing 
him,  stepped  over  the  edge  of  the  platform  and  fell  full 
length  between  the  rails. 

There  was  a  yell  from  a  man  with  a  lantern  and  a 
sudden  hoot  from  the  whistle  of  the  big  locomotive. 
Savine's  face  turned  white  under  the  glare  of  the  head- 
light. With  a  reckless  leap  Geoffrey  followed  his  enemy. 
Only  conscious  of  the  man's  peril,  he  acted  upon  impulse 
without   reflection. 

"Good  God!  They'll  both  be  killed!"  exclaimed 
Shackleby. 

Thurston  was  strong  of  limb  and  every  muscle  in  him 
had  been  toughened  by  strenuous  toil,  hut  Leslie  had 
struck  his  head  on  the  rails  and  lav  still,  stunno<!  and  help- 
less. The  lift  was  heavy  for  the  man  who  strove  to  raise 
him,  and  though  the  brakes  screamed  along  the  line  of 
cars  the  locomotive  was  almost  upon  them.  Standi] 
horrified,  and,  without  power  to  move,  the  two  special 
saw  Geoffrey  still  gripping  his  enemy's  shoulders,  heave 


294   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

himself  erect  in  a  supreme  effort,  then  the  cow-catcher  on 
the  engine's  front  struck  them  both,  and  Savine  felt, 
rather  than  heard,  a  sickening  sound  as  the  huge  machine 
swept  resistlessly  on.  Afterward  he  declared  that  the  sus- 
pense which  followed  while  the  long  box-cars  rolled  by  was 
horrible,  for  nothing  could  be  seen,  and  the  two  men 
shivered  with  the  uncertainty  as  to  what  might  be  hap- 
pening beneath  the  grinding  wheels. 

When  the  last  car  passed  both  leapt  down  upon  the 
track,  and  a  man  joined  them  holding  a  lantern  aloft. 
Savine  stooped  over  Thurston,  who  lay  just  clear  of  the 
rails,  looking  strangely  limp. 

"  Another  second  would  have  done  it — did  I  heave  him 
clear  ?  "  he  gasped.  He  tried  to  raise  himself  by  one  hand 
but  fell  back  with  a  groan. 

"  I  guess  not,"  answered  a  railroad  employe,  holding 
the  lantern  higher,  and  while  two  others  ran  up  the  tracks, 
the  light  fell  upon  a  shapeless,  huddled  heap.  "  That  one 
has  passed  his  checks  in,  certain,"  the  holder  of  the  lan- 
tern announced. 

Within  ten  minutes  willing  assistants  from  the  tiny 
settlement  were  on  the  spot  and  stretchers  were  impro- 
vised. Savine  had  bidden  the  agent  telegraph  for  a 
doctor,  and  the  two  victims  were  slowly  carried  towards 
the  New  Eldorado  saloon.  When  they  were  gently  laid 
down  an  elderly  miner,  familiar  with  accidents,  pointing 
to  Thurston  after  making  a  hasty  examination  said : 

"  This  one  has  got  his  arm  broken,  collar-bone  gone, 
too,  but  if  there's  nothing  busted  inside  he'll  come  round. 
The  other  one  has  been  stone  dead  since  the  engine  hit 
him." 

There  were  further  proffers  of  help  from  several  of  his 
comrades,  who,  as  usual  with  their  kind,  possessed  some 
knowledge  of  rude  surgery.  When  all  that  was  possible 
had  been  done  for  the  living,  Savine  was  drawn  aside  by 
Shackleby. 

"  This  is  what  he  dropped  on  the  platform — I  picked 


LESLIE    STEPS    OUT  295 

it  up  quietly,"  he  said,  holding  out  an  ivory-handled  re- 
volver. "  No  use  letting  any  ugly  tales  get  round  or 
raking  up  that  other  story,  is  it?  I  don't  know  whether 
Thurston  induced  Leslie's  wife  to  run  off  or  not — from 
what  I  have  heard  of  him  I  hardly  think  he  did — but  one 
may  as  well  let  things  simmer  down  gracefully." 

"  I  am  grateful  for  your  thoughtfulness,"  replied  Savine. 
"  Probably  it  is  more  than  he  would  have  done  for  you. 
This  is  hardly  the  time  to  discuss  such  questions,  but 
what  has  happened  can't  affect  our  position.  Still,  per- 
sonally, I  may  not  feel  inclined  to  push  merely  vindictive 
measures  against  you." 

"  I  didn't  think  it  would  change  matters,"  said 
Shackleby,  with  a  shrug.  "If  I  should  be  wanted  I'm 
open  to  describe  the — accident — and  let  other  details  slide. 
The  railroad  fellows  suspect  nothing.  Thurston  has  made 
your  side  a  strong  one,  and  in  a  way  I  don't  blame  him. 
If  he  had  stood  in  with  me,  we'd  have  smashed  up  your 
brother  completely." 


CHAPTEE   XXIX 


A    REVELATION 


Two  persons  were  strangely  affected  and  stirred  to  unex- 
pected action  by  the  news  of  Thurston's  injury,  and  the 
first  of  these  was  Julius  Savine.  It  was  late  next  night 
when  his  brother's  messenger  arrived  at  the  ranch,  for 
Thomas  had  thought  of  nothing  but  the  sufferer's  welfare 
at  first,  and  Savine  lay,  a  very  frail,  wasted  figure,  dozing 
by  the  stove.  His  sister-in-law  sat  busy  over  some  netting 
close  at  hand.  Both  were  startled  when  a  man,  who  held 
out  a  soiled  envelope,  came  in  abruptly.  Savine  read  the 
message  and  tossed  the  paper  across  to  Mrs.  Savine  before 
he  rose  shakily  to  his  feet. 

"  I  would  sooner  have  heard  anything  than  that 
Geoffrey  was  badly  hurt,"  he  exclaimed  with  a  quaver  in 
his  voice.  To  the  Chinaman,  who  brought  the  stranger  in, 
he  gave  the  order,  "  Get  him  some  supper  and  tell  Fon- 
taine I  want  him  at  once." 

"  Poor  Geoffrey !  We  must  hope  it  is  not  serious," 
cried  Mrs.  Savine  with  visible  distress.  "  But  sit  down. 
You  can't  help  him,  and  may  bring  on  a  seizure  by  excit- 
ing yourself,  Julius." 

Savine,  who  did  not  answer  her,  remained  standing 
until  the  hired  hand  whom  he  had  summoned,  entered. 
"  Eide  your  hardest  to  the  camp  and  tell  Foreman  Tom 
I'm  coming  over  to  take  charge  until  Mr.  Thurston,  who 
has  met  with  an  accident,  recovers,"  he  said.  "He's  to 
send  a  spare  horse  and  a  couple  of  men  to  help  the  sleigh 
over  the  washed-out  trail.  Come  baek  at  your  best  pace. 
I  must  reach  the  canon  before  morning." 

"Are  you  mad,  Julius?"  asked  his  sister-in-law  when 
the  men  retired.  "  It's  even  chances  the  excitement  or 
the  journey  will  kill  you." 

296 


A   REVELATION  297 

"Then  I  must  take  the  chances,"  declared  Savine. 
"While  there  was  a  man  I  could  trust  to  handle  things, 
I  let  this  weakness  master  me.  Now  the  poor  fellow's 
helpless,  somebody  must  take  hold  before  chaos  ensues,  and 
I  haven't  quite  forgotten  everything.  You'll  have  to  nurse 
Geoffrey,  and  it's  no  use  trying  to  scare  me.  Fill  my 
big  flask  with  the  old  brandy  and  get  my  furs  out.'' 

Mrs.  Savine  saw  further  remonstrance  would  be  useless. 
She  considered  her  brother-in-law  more  fit  for  his  grave 
than  to  complete  a  great  undertaking,  but  he  was  clearly 
bent  on  having  his  way.  When  she  hinted  something  of 
her  thoughts,  he  answered  that  even  so  he  would  rather 
die  at  work  in  the  canon  than  tamely  in  his  bed.  So 
shivering  under  a  load  of  furs  he  departed  in  the  sleigh, 
and  after  several  narrow  escapes  of  an  upset,  reached  the 
camp  in  the  dusk  of  a  nipping  morning. 

"  Help  me  out.  Mr.  Thurston,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  has 
met  with  a  bad  accident,  and  you  and  I  have  got  to 
finish  this  work  without  him,"  he  said  to  the  anxious  fore- 
man. "  From  what  he  told  me  I  can  count  upon  your 
doing  the  best  that's  in  you,  Tom." 

"  I  won't  go  back  on  nothing  Mr.  Thurston  said,"  was 
the  quiet  answer;  but  when  Tom  from  Mattawa  left 
Savine,  whose  nerveless  fingers  spilled  half  the  contents  of 
the  silver  cup  he  strove  to  fill,  gasping  beside  the  stove  in 
Thurston's  quarters,  he  gravely  shook  his  head. 

Several  days  elapsed  after  Helen's  departure  for 
Vancouver  before  Mrs.  Savine,  who  had  gone  at 
once  to  the  scene  of  the  accident,  considered  it  judi- 
cious to  inform  her  of  Geoffrey's  condition,  and  so  it 
happened  that  one  evening  Helen  accompanied  her  hostess 
to  witness  the  performance  of  a  Western  dramatic  com- 
pany. Despite  second-rale  acting  the  play  was  a  pretty 
one,  and  each  time  the  curtain  went  down  Belen  found 
the  combination  of  bright  light,  pretty  dresses,  laughter 
and  merry  voices  strangely  pleasant  after  her  isolation. 
At  times  her  thoughts  would  wander  back  to  the  ice-bound 


298   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

canon  and  the  man  who  had  pitted  himself  against  the 
thundering  river  in  its  gloomy  depths.  Perhaps  the  very- 
contrast  between  this  scene  of  brightness  and  luxury  and 
the  savage  wilderness  emphasized  the  self-abnegation  he 
had  shown.  She  knew  now  that  he  had  toiled  beyond 
most  men's  strength,  when  he  might  have  rested,  and  cast- 
ing away  what  would  have  insured  him  a  life  of  ease, 
had  voluntarily  chosen  an  almost  hopeless  struggle  for  her 
sake.  Few  women  had  been  wooed  so,  she  reflected,  and 
then  she  endeavored  to  confine  her  attention  to  the  play, 
for  as  yet,  though  both  proud  and  grateful,  she  could  not 
admit  that  she  had  been  won. 

Presently  the  son  of  her  hostess,  who  joined  the  party 
between  the  acts,  handed  her  a  note.  "  I  am  sorry  I 
could  not  get  here  before,  but  found  this  waiting,  and 
thought  I'd  better  bring  it  along.  I  hope  it's  not  a  sum- 
mons of  recall,"  he  said. 

Helen  opened  the  envelope,  and  the  hurriedly-written 
lines  grew  blurred  before  her  eyes  as  she  read,  "  I  am 
grieved  to  say  that  Geoffrey  has  been  seriously  injured  by 
an  accident.  The  doctor  has,  however,  some  hopes  of  his 
recovery,  though  he  won't  speak  definitely  yet.  If  you 
can  find  an  intelligent  woman  in  Vancouver  you  could 
trust  to  help  me  nurse  him,  send  her  along.  Didn't  write 
before  because " 

"  What  is  it  ?  Xo  bad  news  of  your  father,  I  hope," 
her  hostess  asked,  and  the  son,  a  line  type  of  the  young 
Western  citizen,  noticed  the  dismay  in  Helen's  face  as 
she  answered  : 

••  frothing  has  happened  to  my  father.  His  partner 
has  been  badly  hurt.  I  must  return  to-morrow,  and,  as 
it  is  a  tiresome  journey,  if  you  will  excuse  me,  1  would 
rathe-  not  sit  out  the  play." 

Tin'  voung  man  noticed  that  Helen  seemed  to  shiver, 
while  her  voice  was  strained.  He  discreetly  turned  away 
his  head,  though  he  had  seen  sufficient  to  show  him  that 
certain  lately-renewed  hopes  were  vain. 


A    REVELATION  299 


« 


Miss  Savine  has  not  been  used  to  gayety  of  late,  and 
I  warned  her  she  must  take  it  quietly,  especially  with  that 
ride  through  the  ranges  before  her.  This  place  is  un- 
sufferably  hot,  and  you  can  trust  me  to  see  her  safe  home, 
mother,"  he  said. 

Helen's  grateful,  "  Thank  you ! "  was  reward  enough, 
but  it  was  in  an  unenviable  humor  that  the  young  man 
returned  to  the  theater  when  she  sought  refuge  in  her  own 
room. 

Solitude  appeared  a  vital  necessity,  for  at  last  Helen 
understood.  Ever  since  Thurston  first  limped,  footsore 
and  hungry,  into  her  life  she  had  been  alternately  at- 
tracted and  repelled  by  him.  His  steadfast  patience  and 
generosity  had  almost  melted  her  at  times,  but  from  the 
beginning,  circumstances  had  seemed  to  conspire  against 
the  man,  shadowing  him  with  suspicion,  and  forcing  him 
into  opposition  to  her  will.  Mrs.  Savine's  story  had  made 
his  unswerving  loyalty  plain,  and  Helen  had  begun  to 
see  that  she  would  with  all  confidence  trust  her  life  to  him  ; 
but  she  was  proud,  and  knowing  how  she  had  misjud 
him,  hesitated  still.  As  long  as  a  word  or  a  smile  could 
bring  him  to  her  feet  she  could  postpone  the  day  of  reck- 
oning at  least  until  his  task  was  finished,  and  thus  allow 
him  to  prove  his  devotion  to  the  uttermost  test. 

Xow,  however,  fate  had  intervened,  tearing  away  all  dis- 
guise, and  her  eyes  were  opened.  She  knew  that  with- 
out him  the  future  would  be  empty,  and  the  revelation 
stirred  every  fiber  of  her  being.  Growing  Buddenly  cold 
with  a  shock  of  fear  she  remembered  that  she  had  per- 
haps already  lost  him  forever.  It  might  be  that  another 
more  solemn  summons  had  preceded  her  own,  and  that 
she  might  call  and  Geoffrey  Thurston  would  not  hear! 
He  had  won  his  right  to  rest  by  work  well  done,  hut  she 
— it  now  seemed  that  a  lifetime  would  he  loo  short  to 
mourn  him.  Helen  shivered  at  the  thought,  (hen  she  fell 
as  if  she  were  suffocating.  Turning  the  light  low,  she 
flung  the  long  window  open.     Beyond  the  electric  glare 


300   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

of  the  city,  with  its  shapeless  pile  of  roofs  and  towering 
poles,  the  mountains  rose,  serenely  majestic,  in  robes  of 
awful  purity.  They  were  beckoning  her  she  felt.  The 
man  whom  she  had  learned  to  love  too  late  lay  among 
them,  perhaps  with  the  strong  hands  that  had  toiled  for 
her  folded  in  peace  at  last,  and,  living  or  dead,  she  must 
go  to  him.  She  remembered  that  the  message  said, — 
"  Hire  a  capable  woman  in  Vancouver,"  and  it  brought 
her  a  ray  of  comfort.  If  the  time  was  not  already  past 
she  would  ask  nothing  better  than  to  wait  on  him  her- 
self. Presently,  when  there  was  a  hum  of  voices  below, 
Helen,  white  of  face  but  steady  in  nerves,  descended  to 
meet  her  hostess. 

"  I  must  go  back  to-morrow,  and  as  it  is  a  fatiguing  jour- 
ney you  will  not  mind  my  retiring  early,"  she  said  to  ex- 
cuse her  absence  from  the  supper  party  that  was  assembled 
after  the  play. 

On  reaching  the  railroad  settlement  Helen  found  the 
doctor  in  charge  of  Thurston  willing  to  avail  himself  of 
her  assistance.  The  physician  had  barely  held  his  own  in 
several  encounters  with  her  aunt,  whom  he  suspected  of 
endeavoring  to  administer  unauthorized  preparations  to 
his  patient,  while  on  her  part  Mrs.  Savine  freely  ad- 
mitted that  at  her  age  she  could  not  sit  up  all  night  for- 
ever. So  Helen  was  installed,  and  it  was  midnight  when 
she  commenced  her  first  watch. 

"  You  will  call  me  at  once  if  the  patient  wakes  com- 
plaining of  any  pain,"  said  the  surgeon.  "  Do  I  think  he  is 
out  of  danger?  Well,  he  is  very  weak  yet,  my  dear  young 
lady,  hut  if  you  will  carry  out  my  orders,  I  fancy  we  may 
hope  for  the  best.  But  you  must  remember  that  a  nurse's 
chief  qualifications  are  presence  of  mind  and  a  perfect 
serenity." 

"  I  will  not  fail  you,"  promised  Helen,  choking  back  a 
sob  of  relief;  and,  trusting  that  the  doctor  did  not  see  her 
quivering  face,  she  added  softly,  "Heaven  is  merciful!" 

She  had  been  prepared  for  a  change,  but  she  was  startled 


A   REVELATION  301 

at  the  sight  of  Thurston.  He  lay  with  blanched  patches 
in  the  paling  bronze  on  his  face,  which  had  grown  hollow 
and  lined  by  pain.  Still  he  was  sleeping  soundly,  and  did 
not  move  when  she  bent  over  him.  She  stooped  further 
and  touched  his  forehead  with  her  lips,  rose  with  the  hot 
blood  pulsing  upwards  from  her  neck,  and  stood  trem- 
bling, while,  cither  dreaming  or  stirred  by  some  influence 
beyond  man's  knowledge,  the  sleeper  smiled,  murmuring, 
"  Helen !  " 

It  was  daylight  when  Thurston  awakened,  and  stared  as 
if  doubtful  of  his  senses  at  his  new  nurse,  until,  approach- 
ing the  frame  of  canvas  whereon  he  lay,  Helen,  with  a 
gentle  touch,  caressingly  brushed  the  hair  from  his  fore- 
head. 

"  I  have  come  to  help  you  to  get  better.  We  cannot 
spare  you,  Geoffrey,"  she  said  simply. 

The  sick  man  asked  no  question  nor  betrayed  further 
astonishment.  He  looked  up  gratefully  into  the  eyes  which 
met  his  own  for  a  moment  and  grew  downcast  again. 
"  Then  I  shall  certainly  cheat  the  doctors  yet,"  he  de- 
clared. 

Under  the  circumstances  his  words  were  distinctly 
commonplace,  but  speech  is  not  the  sole  means  of  com- 
munion between  mind  and  mind,  and  for  the  present  both 
were  satisfied.  Helen  laughed  and  blushed  happily  when, 
as  by  an  after  thought,  Geoffrey  added,  "  It  is  really  very 
kind  of  you." 

"You  must  not  talk,"  she  admonished  with  a  half-shy 
assumption  of  authority,  strangely  at  variance  with  her 
former  demeanor.  "I  shall  call  in  my  aunt  with  the 
elixir  if  you  do." 

Geoffrey  smiled,  but  the  brightness  of  his  countenanee 
was  not  accounted  for  by  his  answer:  "  I  believe  she  has 
treated  me  with  it  once  or  twice  already,  ami  I  still  sur- 
vive. In  fact,  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  doctor  taught 
her  red-handed  on  one  occasion,  and  there  was  trouble." 

After  that   Geoffrey  recovered    vigor   rapidly,   and   the 


302   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

days  passed  quickly  for  Helen  as  she  watched  over  him  in 
the  dilapidated  frame  house  to  which  he  had  been  removed 
after  the  accident.  No  word  of  love  passed  between  them, 
nor  was  any  word  necessary.  The  man,  still  weak  and 
languid,  appeared  blissfully  contented  to  enjoy  the 
present,  and  Helen,  who  was  glad  to  see  him  do  so,  abided 
her  time. 

Meanwhile,  supported  by  sheer  force  of  will  and  a 
nervous  exaltation,  that  would  vanish  utterly  when  the  need 
for  it  ceased,  Julius  Savine,  leaning  on  his  foreman's  arm, 
or  sitting  propped  up  in  a  rude  jumper  sleigh,  directed 
operations  in  the  canon.  He  knew  he  was  consuming  the 
vitality  that  might  purchase  another  few  years'  life  in  as 
many  weeks  of  effort,  but  he  desired  only  to  see  the  work 
finished,  and  was  satisfied  to  pay  the  price.  He  slept  little 
and  scarcely  ate,  holding  on  to  his  work  with  desperate 
purpose  and  living  on  cordials.  Though  progress  was 
much  slower  than  it  would  have  been  under  Geoffrey's 
direction,  he  accomplished  that  purpose. 

One  afternoon  Thomas  Savine  entered  the  sick  man's 
room  in  a  state  of  complacent  satisfaction. 

''  Glad  to  see  you  getting  ahead  so  fast,  and  you  must 
hurry,  for  we'll  want  you  soon,"  he  said.  "The  great 
charge  is  to  be  fired  the  day  after  to-morrow.  Shackleby, 
who  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  opposition,  has  cleared 
out  with  considerable  expedition.  Sold  all  his  stock  in  the 
Company,  and  if  his  colleagues  knew  much  about  his  do- 
ings, which  is  quite  possible,  they  emphatically  disown 
them.  As  a  result  I've  made  one  or  two  good  provisional 
deals  with  them,  and  expect  no  more  trouble.  In  short, 
everything  points  to  a  great  success." 

When  Savine  went  out  Geoffrey  beckoned  Helen  to  him. 

'  I  am  getting  so  well  that  you  must  leave  me  to  your 
aunt  to-morrow,"  he  said.  "  You  remember  your  promise 
to  fire  the  decisive  charge  for  me,  and  I  hope  when  you 
see  it  you  will  approve  of  the  electric  firing  key.  Tell  your 
father  I  owe  more  to  him  than  the  doctor,  for  I  should 


A   REVELATION  303 

have  worried  myself  beyond  the  reach  of  physic  if  he  had 
not  been  there  to  take  charge  instead  of  me — that  is  to  say, 
before  you  came  to  cure  me/' 

"  I  will  go/'  agreed  Helen,  with  signs  of  suppressed 
agitation  that  puzzled  Geoffrey.  She  knew  that  after  that 
charge  had  been  fired  their  present  relations,  pleasant  as 
they  were,  could  not  continue.  It  appeared  to  her  the 
climax  to  which  all  he  had  dared  and  suffered,  and 
with  a  humility  that  was  yet  akin  to  pride  she  had  de- 
termined, in  reparation,  voluntarily  to  offer  him  that 
which,  whether  victorious  or  defeated  otherwise,  he  had 
with  infinite  patience  and  loyal  service  won. 

It  was  early  one  clear  cold  morning  when  Helen  Savine 
stood  on  a  little  plank  platform  perched  high  in  a  hollow 
of  the  rock  walls  overhanging  the  river  opposite  Thurs- 
ton's camp.  Each  detail  of  the  scene  burned  itself  into 
her  memory  as  she  gazed  about  her  under  a  tense  expec- 
tancy— the  rift  of  blue  sky  between  the  filigree  of  dark 
pines  high  above,  the  rush  of  white-streaked  water  thun- 
dering down  the  gorge  below  and  frothing  high  about  the 
massive  boulders,  and  one  huge  fang  of  promontory  which 
a  touch  of  her  finger  would,  if  all  went  well,  reduce  to 
chaotic  debris.  Groups  of  workmen  waited  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  flood,  all  staring  towards  her  expectantly, 
and  Thomas  Savine  stood  close  by  holding  an  insignificant 
box  with  wires  attached  to  it,  in  a  hand  that  was  not  quite 
steady.  Tom  from  Mattawa  sat  perched  upon  a  spire  of 
rock  holding  up  a  furled  flag,  and  her  father  leaned  heavily 
upon  the  rails  of  the  staging.  No  one  spoke  or  stirred, 
and  in  spite  of  the  roar  of  hurrying  water  a  deep  oppres- 
sive silence  seemed  to  brood  over  canon  and  camp. 

"This  is  the  key,"  said  Thomas  Savine.  "  It  is  some 
notion  of  Geoffrey's,  and  he  had  it  made  especially  in 
Toronto.    You  fit  it  in  here." 

Helen  glanced  at  the  diminutive  object  before  she  took 
the  box.  The  finger  grip  had  been  fashioned  out  of  a 
dollar  cut  clean  across  bearing  two  dates  engraved  upon  it. 


304   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

The  first,  it  flashed  upon  her,  was  the  one  on  which  she 
had  given  the  worn-out  man  that  very  coin,  while  the  other 
had  evidently  been  added  more  recently,  with  less  skill,  by 
some  camp  artificer. 

"  It's  to-day/'  said  Thomas  Savine  following  her  eyes, 
and  Helen  noticed  that  his  voice  was  strained.  "  Geoffrey 
told  me  to  get  it  done.  Quaint  idea;  don't  know  what  it 
means.    But  put  us  out  of  suspense.    We're  all  waiting." 

Helen  knew  what  the  dates  meant,  and  appreciated  the 
delicate  compliment.  It  was  she  who  had  started  the  dar- 
ing contractor  on  his  career  who  was  to  complete  his 
triumph,  and  she  drew  a  deep  breath  as  she  looked  down 
into  the  thundering  gorge  realizing  it  was  a  great  fight 
he  had  won.  Human  courage  and  dogged  endurance,  in- 
spired by  him,  had  mocked  at  the  might  of  the  river,  and, 
blasting  a  new  pathway  for  it  through  the  adamantine 
heart  of  the  hills,  would  roll  back  the  barren  waters  from 
a  good  land  that  the  stout  of  heart  and  arm  might  enter  in. 
Swamps  would  give  place  to  wheat  fields,  orchards  blossom 
where  willow  swale  had  been,  herds  of  cattle  fatten  on  the 
levels  of  the  lake,  and  the  smoke  of  prosperous  homesteads 
drift  across  dark  forests  where,  for  centuries,  the  wolf  and 
deer  had  roamed  undisturbed.  That  was  one  aspect  only, 
but  she  knew  the  man  who  loved  her  had  won  a  greater 
triumph  over  his  own  nature  and  others'  passions  and  in- 
firmities. 

It  was  with  a  thrill  of  pride  that  the  girl  realized  all 
that  he  had  done  for  her,  and  yet  for  a  few  seconds  she 
almost  shrank  from  the  responsibility  as  high  above  the 
waiting  men  she  stood  with  slender  fingers  tightening 
upon  the  key.  The  issues  of  what  must  follow  its  turning 
would  be  momentous,  for  it  flashed  upon  her  that  the  tiny 
combination  of  copper  and  silver  might,  with  equal  chance, 
open  the  way  to  a  golden  future  or  let  in  overwhelming 
disaster  upon  all  she  loved.  Then  the  doubt  appeared  an 
injustice  to  CJeofTrey  Thurston  and  those  who  had  followed 
him    through   frost   and    flood   and   whirling   snow,   and, 


A   REVELATION  305 

with   a  color  on  her  forehead,  and  a  light  in  her  eyes,  she 
pressed  home  the  key. 

Then  there  was  bustle  and  hurry.  Julius  Savine  raised' 
his  hand,  and  Tom  from  Mattawa  whirled  high  the  un- 
furled flag.  Somebody  beat  upon  an  iron  sheet  invisible 
below,  and  the  strip  of  beach  in  the  depths  of  the  canon 
became  alive  with  running  men.  Next  followed  a  deep 
stillness  intensified  by  the  clamor  of  the  river  which  would 
never  raise  the  same  wild  harmonies  again,  for  the  slender 
hand  of  a  woman  had  bound  it  fast  henceforward  under 
man's  dominion.  The  hush  was  ended  suddenly.  For  a 
second  the  great  hollow  seemed  filled  with  tongues  of 
flame;  then,  while  thick  smoke  quenched  them  and  crag 
and  boulder  crumbled  to  fragments,  a  stunning  detonation 
rang  from  rock  to  rock  and  rolled  upwards  into  the  frozen 
silence  of  untrodden  hills.  Huge  masses  which  eddied 
and  whirled,  filling  the  gorge  with  the  crash  of  their 
descent  leaped  out  of  the  vapor ;  there  was  a  ceaseless  shock 
and  patter  of  smaller  fragments,  and  then,  while  long 
reverberations  rolled  among  the  hills,  the  roar  of  the  tor- 
tured river  drowned  the  mingled  din.  Rising,  tremendous 
in  its  last  revolt,  its  majestic  diapason  was  deepened  by  the 
boom  of  grinding  rock  and  the  detonation  of  boulders 
reduced  to  powder.  The  draught  caused  by  the  water's 
passage  fanned  the  smoke  away,  and  the  blue  vapor,  curl- 
ing higher,  drifted  past  the  staging,  so  that  Helen  could 
only  dimly  see  a  great  muddy  wave  foam  down  the  canon, 
bursting  here  and  there  into  gigantic  upheavals  of  spray. 
She  watched  it,  held  silent,  awe-stricken,  by  the  sound  ami 
sight. 

At  last  Mattawa  Tom  appeared  again,  and  his  voice 
was  faintly  audible  through  the  dying  clamors  as  be  waved 
his  hands:  "Juss  gorgeous.  Gone  way  better  than  the 
best  we  hoped,"  he  hailed. 

His  comrades  heard  and  answered.  They  were  not 
mere  hirelings  toiling  for  a  daily  wage,  but  men  who  had 
a  stake  in  that  region's  future,  and  would  share  its  pros- 


306   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

perity,  and,  had  it  been  otherwise,  they  were  human  still. 
Toiling  long  with  stubborn  patience,  often  in  imminent 
peril  of  life  and  limb;  winning  ground  as  it  were  by  inches, 
and  sometimes  barely  holding  what  they  had  won;  ful- 
filling their  race's  destiny  to  subdue  and  people  the  waste 
places  of  the  earth  with  the  faith  which,  when  aided  by 
modern  science,  is  greater  than  the  mountains'  immobility, 
they  too  rejoiced  fervently  over  the  consummation  of  the 
struggle.  Twice  a  roar  that  was  scarcely  articulate  filled 
the  canon,  and  then,  growing  into  the  expression  of  defi- 
nite thought,  it  flung  upward  their  leader's  name. 

Helen  listened,  breathless,  intoxicated  as  by  wine. 
Julius  Savine  stood  upright  with  no  trace  of  weakness  in 
his  attitude.  Then  suddenly  he  seemed  to  shrink  to- 
gether, and,  with  the  power  gone  out  of  him,  caught  at 
the  rails  as  he  turned  to  his  daughter. 

"  We  have  won !  It  is  Geoffrey's  doing,  and  my  last 
task  is  done,"  he  spoke  in  a  voice  that  sounded  faint  and 
far-away.  "  Fast  horses  and  bold  riders  I  can  trust  you, 
too,  are  waiting.    Tell  him  !  n 

Helen  noticed  a  strange  wistfulness  in  her  father's 
glance,  but  she  asked  no  question  and  turned  to  Thomas 
Savine.  "  I  leave  him  in  your  charge.  I  will  go,"  she 
said. 

That  afternoon  passed  very  slowly  for  Geoffrey-  He  lay 
near  a  window,  which  he  insisted  should  be  opened,  glanc- 
ing alternately  at  his  watch  and  the  trail  that  wound  down 
the  hillside  as  the  minutes  crept  by.  He  was  hardly  civil 
to  the  doctor,  and  almost  abrupt  with  Mrs.  Savine,  who, 
knowing  his  anxiety,  straightway  forgave  him. 

"  You  tell  me  I  must  avoid  excitement  and  await  the 
news  with  composure.  For  heaven's  sake,  man,  be  rea- 
sonable. You  might  as  well  recommend  your  next  mori- 
bund victim  to  get  up  and  take  exercise,"  he  grumbled  to 
the  physician. 

But  the  longest  afternoon  passes  at  length,  and  when 
the  sunset  glories  flamed  in  the  western  sky,  and  the  great 


A   REVELATION  307 

peaks  put  on  fading  splendors  of  saffron  and  crimson, 
three  black  moving  objects  became  visible  on  a  hill-crest 
bare  of  the  climbing  firs.  Geoffrey  watched  them  with 
straining  eyes,  and  it  was  a  wonderful  picture  that  he 
looked  upon — black  gorge,  darkening  forest,  drifting  haze 
in  the  hollows,  and  unearthly  splendors  above;  but  he  re- 
garded it  only  as  a  fit  setting  for  the  slight  figure  in  the 
foreground  that  swayed  to  the  stride  of  a  galloping  horse. 
He  was  not  surprised — it  seemed  perfectly  appropriate 
that  Helen  should  bring  him  the  news — though  his  fingers 
trembled  and  his  lips  twitched. 

"  We  shall  know  the  best  or  worst  in  five  minutes. 
You  have  done  your  utmost,  doctor,  but  I'll  get  up  and 
annihilate  you  with  your  own  bottles  if  you  give  me  good 
advice  now,"  he  said,  and  the  surgeon,  seeing  protests  were 
useless,  laughed. 

Mrs.  Savine  said  nothing.  She  was  in  a  state  of  nerv- 
ous tension,  too,  and  merely  laid  her  hand  on  the  patient, 
restrainingly,  as  he  strove  with  small  success  to  raise  him- 
self a  little.  Meantime  the  horse  came  nearer,  its  bridle 
dripping  with  flakes  of  spume.  Its  rider  was  sprinkled 
with  snow  and  her  skirt  was  besmeared  with  lather,  but 
she  came  on  at  a  gallop  until  she  reined  in  the  panting 
horse  beneath  the  window,  and  flinging  one  arm  aloft  sat 
in  the  saddle  with  her  flushed  face  turned  towards  the 
watchers.  No  bearer  of  good  tidings  ever  appeared  more 
beautiful  to  an  anxious  man. 

"  It  is  triumph  !  "  she  cried. 

"  Thank  God ! "  answered  Mrs.  Savine,  who  slipped 
quietly  from  the  room. 

Little  time  elapsed  before  Helen  entered  the  room  where 
Geoffrey  impatiently  waited  for  her,  but  brief  as  it  was, 
there  was  no  sign  of  hurried  travel  about  her.  Her  ap- 
parel was  fresh  and  dainty,  and  there  was  even  a  flower 
from  Mexico  at  her  belt.  She  went  straight  to  GeotTivy 
and  bent  over  him. 

"  All  has  gone  well — better,  I  understand,  than  you 


S08   THURSTON  OF  ORCHARD  VALLEY 

even  hoped  for,  and  you  have  done  a  great  thing,  Geof- 
frey," she  said.     "  You  have  saved  me  my  inheritance- 


which  is  of  small  importance — and — I  know  all  now— my 
father's  honor.  You  have  repaid  him  tenfold,  and  grati- 
fied his  heart's  desire." 

"  Then  I  am  thankful,"  answered  Geoffrey  very  quietly. 
He  lay  still  a  moment  looking  at  her  with  a  great  longing 
in  his  eyes.  Helen  was  very  beautiful,  more  beautiful  even 
than  usual,  it  seemed  to  him.  He  did  not  guess  that  she 
had  an  offering  to  make,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  man  at 
whose  feet  she  would  lay  it,  would  not  even  so  far  as 
trifles  went,  depreciate  the  gift,  hence  her  careful  attire. 

Helen's  eyes  fell  beneath  his  gaze.  She  discerned 
what  he  was  thinking,  and,  though  the  words  "  heart's  de- 
sire "  were  accidental,  there  was  no  mistaking  the  sugges- 
tion.   She  said  slowly : 

"  I  have  been  unjust,  proud  and  willful — and  I  am  going 
to  do  full  penance.  You  have  surely  the  gift  of  prophecy. 
Do  you  remember  your  last  bold  prediction  ?  " 

Geoffrey's  lip  twitched.  He  strove  to  raise  himself  that 
he  might  see  the  speaker  more  clearly,  and,  still  almost 
helpless  in  his  bandages,  slipped  back  again.  Helen 
slipped  her  hand  into  his. 

"  I  have  come  to  beg  you  not  to  go  away." 

"  There  is  one  thing  that  would  prevent  me."  Geoffrey, 
bewildered,  seemed  to  lose  his  usual  crispness  of  speech, 
but  Helen  checked  him. 

"  Therefore,"  and  Helen's  voice  was  very  low,  while 
surging  upwards  from  her  neck  a  swift  wave  of  color 
flushed  cheek  and  brow.  "  I  have  come  of  my  own  will  to 
say  what  you  asked  of  me.  You  have  loved  and  served  me 
faithfully,  and  it  is  not  gratitude — only — which  prompts 


me  now." 


There  was  a  space  in  which  Helen  caught  her  breath. 
Then  she  lifted  her  head,  and  said  proudly : 
"  Geoffrey  Thurston — I  love  you." 


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